It spooked Arlene Whittington's chooks and sent her scuttling for cover. 'The chickens went berserk,” says Arlene. 'They saw it, heard and it and went crazy – cackled their heads off.”

The ‘it' was a drone mounted with a camera. It had violated Arlene's airspace over her Dalton Place backyard in Papamoa and fuelled concerns over privacy and security.

Arlene Whittington and her chooks' backyard were invaded by a drone. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

'I got quite a fright,” she says. 'I saw it hovering above me and I went: ‘What the ####?'”

Her encounter with the drone raises interesting questions about unmanned aircraft operations. What was the drone doing, who was flying it and what would the images be used for?

'I know a house over the back is for sale, so I presume it was for a real estate promotion,” says Arlene.

But she doesn't know for sure. 'No, not for sure!” And that's why she went scuttling under that tree until the drone drifted off. 'I got out of sight so it couldn't see me - just in case.”

And when her partner David Banks went to the police out of curiosity there were other concerns.

'They told us to be wary – just in case it was burglar casing the joint.”

Arlene and David thought that was a bit extreme. 'Then they told us to ring 111 if we saw it again.”

They still believe it was a real estate agent getting aerials of a sale house. But did they prefer to believe that because the alternative ‘burglar' explanation was unsettling?

'Probably, that's true,” admits Arlene.

'And I'm sure not anyone would feel comfortable with these things buzzing around just above their heads and filming everything.”

And that's exactly why the Civil Aviation Authority is having a closer look at drones.

The advanced performance characteristics of drones means they have a much wider application, including scientific research, film and video production and agriculture.

'This can mean greater safety risks for airspace users and for people and property,” says the CAA's Steve Moore. 'It's important we update the rules in recognition of those risks.”

At the moment rules dictate, amongst other things, that a drone operator needs to be able to see the aircraft with their own eyes at all times, the aircraft can be flown only in daylight and not closer than four kilometres from an aerodrome.

However, the rules are likely to be ramped up, and they might prohibit flying over houses and parks without the express permission of all affected people.

The CAA is working the changes into a submission being handed to Transport Minister Gerry Brownlie in March.

Nick Funnell's FlyBy Videography company in Tauranga uses drones to shoot real estate promotions. He can understand why people get upset and invites them to raise their issues with him.

How about a leaflet drop warning the drone would be operating in a specific place at a specific time and doing a specific job? He agrees.

'There are people out there who do weird stuff with everything,” says Nick. 'There are people who will fly a drone in someone's window simply because they are like that.”

And Nick says unfortunately we have to make rules for the lowest common denominator.

Either way it looks like the Transport Minister might deliver peace and privacy for Arlene and her chooks out in Papamoa.