How will I typically become involved in this sort of thing?

It will depend a lot on where you live (what zone you are in (if you don't know give the council a call, they will be happy to tell you)). The obvious way is that you will be kept awake at night by the sound of a frost fan and you'll decide enough is enough. At this stage however you'll be asking yourself "What can I do?".

Then one day an application for resource consent will arrive and it will say that someone is planning to erect a frost fan close to your home.

Typically this will be within 500 meters of your house, but strangely enough even if it is closer than that the Council and the Applicant are not obliged to inform you (more on that later).

You will be able to read through the application and if you disagree with the installation you have the opportunity to submit a written statement saying so. There is an official form for replying to an application for resource consent and it will normally be included with the notification that you will have received. However you can download one from your local Council web site or pick on up from them (the Marlborough District Council has one here).

One of the most important things that you need to decide on is whether or not to appear at the Council and to speak in opposition to it. Although I will cover how this works later, let me emphasize now that in my opinion, it is important that you speak at the hearing if you oppose the installation. It is designed to be a fairly painless process and you will certainly feel better for it :-)