Melbourne tower residents concerned by invasive ‘peeping Tom’ drones

Residents living in Melbourne CBD high-rises are being buzzed by drones, sparking concern they are being spied on by hi-tech perverts.

High-rise Southbank residents are being left disturbed by dodgy drones hovering outside their apartments amid concerns they are powerless against “peeping Tom” pilots.

Drones are sighted flying around Southbank skyscrapers after sunset almost nightly, with apartments on the block bound by City Rd and Power and Kavanagh streets the most frequently targeted, annoyed locals say.

The vertical village residents fear the pilot, or pilots, have motives more sinister than amateur photography of the city skyline because the drones are seen to hover within “5 to 6 feet” of windows.

It is unclear whether there are multiple drones or if it is the same drone being flown by the same pilot each night.

Southbank high rise resident Jannine Pattison says residents are concerned about invasive drones. Picture: Ian Currie

Australia 108 – the nation’s tallest building by roof height – and neighbouring Melbourne Square are generating the most complaints but residents of Imagine Marco, The Sentinel and City Tower are also reporting concerns about intrusive drones.

Australia 108 resident Yassh Desai has started pulling his blinds down after sunset.

“You pay big bucks for this view and at night you don’t know if (the drone) is out there or when it’ll come and go,” he said.

“Our building and Melbourne Square, it just hovers around. It gradually goes down and up, from lower levels to above. It comes very close as well sometimes.

“We don’t know the rules and regulations with this. And by the time you pick up your phone to record it, it flies up.

“It’s a privacy concern and it’s annoying. What are they trying to achieve and what do they actually want?”

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority governs the use of drones. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Jannine Pattison, who lives in The Sentinel high rise and is vice president of community group Southbank3006, said concern over drones had been on the rise for the past 18 months.

“They can be incredibly invasive,” she said.

“The flying of drones in Southbank tends to be in the evenings, when pilots can benefit from the cover of darkness.

“This fuels the seediness of seeing a drone hovering outside an apartment window.”

Essential Community, which manages both Australia 108 and Melbourne Square, told the Herald Sun residents had not raised concerns about drones with it.

Victoria Police refrained from commenting about peeping Tom pilots when contacted by the Herald Sun, instead saying the issue fell under the jurisdiction of Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

However, CASA states it has no authority in privacy matters and that reports on privacy concerns are recorded merely for statistical purposes.