Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann has called for an independent review of the household drone delivery trial in Bonython after being inundated with negative feedback from the local community.
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Ms Brodtmann said hundreds of residents had contacted her office since Wing's trial started in the Tuggeranong suburb in July, raising concerns about noise, privacy, disturbance to wildlife and a perceived lack of transparency and government oversight in approving and assessing the flights.
She last week wrote to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Planning Minister Mick Gentleman and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to pass on her constituents' concerns, and to seek assurances the trial would be thoroughly reviewed.
The trial is set to finish when Wing's lease over a testing site in Greenway expires in February.
The retiring Canberra MP's call comes as the US-based startup, a product of Google's parent company Alphabet, continues its search for a permanent base for its drone delivery service in Canberra.
Ms Brodtmann told Fairfax Media she understood the benefits of drones in rural and remote Australia, particularly in emergency situations, but questioned their value in suburban areas.
"I fail to understand the benefit of drone delivery for coffees, croissants and burritos," she said.
Ms Brodtmann has made several speeches in Federal Parliament about the drone trial, but her letters to the ACT government ministers and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority mark her first formal intervention on the issue.
She said she wanted to gauge community sentiment before approaching the authorities, but was now certain the trial - and the processes that facilitated it - needed to be scrutinised.
The aviation authority approved Wing's trial and the ACT government helped secure the Greenway site, but there has been almost no information released to the public about the service.
Wing hasn't been required, nor has it chosen, to release data on customer and delivery numbers, or the amount of complaints it has received about its flights.
A spokesman for the aviation authority would not be drawn on whether a review would be undertaken, but said it was constantly monitoring fights during the trial.
The spokesman said Wing would have to apply for a new set of approvals if it wanted to operate permanently.
A spokesman for Mr Gentleman did not commit to a formal review, saying only that the government would "look at the information provided".
In a statement to Fairfax Media, a Wing spokesman said it would "share what we've learnt from residents across Canberra" when the trial finished - but dodged questions about an independent review.
"Throughout the trial we have heard from residents who absolutely love the trial and some residents who have questions or concerns," the spokesman said.
Bonython resident Nev Sheather, who is co-ordinating a community group opposing the trial, called on Wing to publicly release details about the operation before the service expanded to other parts of the territory.
