Frost Fans - The Friday Debate

Frost fans have fired up fervent debate in Marlborough over the last couple of years, as some sleep-deprived residents go head to head with winegrowers Relevant offers

Frost fans have fired up fervent debate in Marlborough over the last couple of years, as some sleep-deprived residents go head to head with winegrowers who say the machines are vital to protecting their vulnerable and valuable crop.

The Marlborough District Council has embarked on a move to change the district plan and tighten rules for frost fan use, a move which has provoked a strong response from both residents and the wine industry. A decision on the plan change is pending. In the meantime, Marlborough Express readers hear from two people on opposite sides of the frost fan fence in today's Friday Debate.

Malcolm McLean - Fairhall resident.

The key word for me in the debate over noise from frost fans is reasonable.

This is also the word used in section 16 of the Resource Management Act where it describes a landowner's duty to ensure that an emission of noise from their property does not exceed a reasonable level.

Someone who had a frost fan placed 100 metres from their home is almost certain to describe the noise as unreasonable.

Someone whose health has been affected by sleep deprivation from the 1000 or more fans in the district will find the noise unreasonable.

Someone whose stock or pets are panicked and harm themselves will find the noise unreasonable.

There are, however, reasonable owners and operators of frost fans. If they own a four-bladed Frost Boss fan, then it will most probably comply with the current noise rules.

But owners of two-bladed fans will find that their fans are running too fast and producing excessive noise.

I know, because unlike the [Marlborough District] Council, I have measured them. The council does not monitor the fan noise. It only monitors the complaints.

So, because two-bladed fans are breaking the rules, owners of four-bladed fans may end up having to upgrade their fans because their two-bladed colleagues have defecated in their nest. They should find that unreasonable.

There is plenty of rhetoric from the wine industry that would suggest doom and gloom if the current plan change goes ahead, but the reality is that some peoples' lives are already doom and gloom because of the noise.

The wine industry has failed to make some of its members behave in a reasonable manner.

As a result it finds itself coming under pressure to comply with more stringent rules and coming under fire for supporting the unreasonable actions of vineyard owners who decide that making wine is more important than making friends.

Stuart Smith - New Zealand Winegrowers chairman and a Brancott Valley winegrower.

The frost alarm goes off at 3am. I check the temperature and begin the anxious process of figuring out whether to start the machines.

For a grower on frost watch, it is a notoriously difficult decision.

Combined with the impossibility of predicting whether the temperature will sink or rise, is the knowledge that each time I operate a machine I incur significant cost and add noise to the still night air. To add to the mix, the decision to frost fight is now under council scrutiny also.

So why do we do it ? Simply put, my family business cannot afford the luxury of treating frost fighting as an option – it is essential to the viability of our business.

One of our machines ran on eight occasions this season and the other machines ran on five and three nights respectively.

Any one of those nights without frost protection would have led to financial disaster. Back in 2003 a frost event destroyed 50 per cent of New Zealand's grape production. If an event of that scale were to occur in 2010, there would be a loss to the wine industry of over $750 million.

I believe that landowners have a responsibility to ensure that the adverse effects of their viticultural practices are mitigated as far as practically possible. I agree that standards should provide a framework within which landowners can reasonably operate – but those standards must be workable.

I do not support the council's plan change on frost fans because the rules before us are complicated, overly restrictive and unlikely to resolve the disputes at the heart of this debate. I would prefer to see a national baseline in relation to cross-boundary effects such as noise and spray drift.

There is also scope for non-regulatory solutions.

In other wine growing regions of New Zealand, councils tend to be less combative towards the use of frost fans.

It is my hope that one day we can move beyond the current impasse to find a solution which accommodates both the expectations of the region's rural residents and the ability of growers to protect their crops from frost.