Broadland District Council spends $42K to hire spy plane carrying a thermal camera to determine which homes are wasting energy

For five days at the end of January, a Leicestershire-based spy plane circled the English towns of Aylsham, Reepham and Acle. A secret plot by MI-5? A publicity stunt? No, just the Broadland District Council trying to help residents and local businesses save money on their heating bills.  This is part of a larger initiative announced on October 14th, 2008.

According to the Daily Mail "Thermal imaging cameras are being used to create colour-coded maps which will enable council officers to identify offenders and pay them a visit to educate them about the harm to the environment and measures they can take."  (emphasis mine)

With the UK having the largest deployment of CCTV in public spaces, it's not particularly suprising that they would expand beyond just monitoring the population using the visible spectrum. As Broadland's Liberal Democrat group leader Stuart Beadle said "Cameras are in place all over today and we have to accept them. So long as the right guidelines are in place and it will bring benefits, I think the scheme is a good thing".