The Hurunui District Council Responds Positively

The Hurunui District Council have heard a proposed change in the District Council Plan to deal with Frost Fan Noise.

While I have no details on the proposal put forward, or the councils response to it, It would be expected to be formed along the lines of the discussion paper published in the Middle of the year.

First of all kudos to the Hurunui District Council for moving forward with the issue. Whether the changes are right or wrong, they have at least done something positive instead of sitting on their hands. 

Having said that, the proposed changes have yet to be sighted and confirmed as sensible. But at least the public will have their chance to pass comment.

Text of the agenda for the meeting is as follows;

PLAN CHANGE 18 – FROST CONTROL FANS 

 

Report by Manager of Environmental Services – A draft district plan change  (Proposed Plan Change 18) and section 32 analysis has been prepared to  deal with managing the effects of noise associated with frost fans used for  crop protection. The change has been prepared in response to an issues and  options paper prepared on this issue, and feedback received by the Council.  The Council, if it is satisfied with the direction of the change, should resolve to  proceed to publicly notify the change under the Resource Management Act  and call for public submissions. Given the upcoming Christmas break it is  recommended that the statutory minimum time limit for public submissions be  doubled to 60 working days.

The minutes of the meeting should be available here when they are confirmed.

Nelson Wine Grower and Polluter of the Environment, Jeff Marr

It's great to see the Tasman District Council on top of their game. 

It turns out that they believe that the only restriction that needs to be placed on a frost fan being installed is to make sure it's below a certain height.

Reference this news article on the first Frost Fans being installed in Nelson by all around nice guy, responsible vineyard owner and neighbour, Jeff 'Go back to town' Marr.

Are there no noise restrictions in the Tasman District Council Plan?

Wait.....

A quick check of their Tasman Resource Management Plan finds that one of its "main functions" is;

"control of noise emissions."

That makes sense. Shouldn't they have some figures written done somewhere?

Wait.....

A quick check of their Rural Zone regulations finds that they do have noise restrictions that allow for the restriction of unreasonable (according to the Resource Management Act) or nuisance (according to the Health Act) noises. Including figures for checking the noise!

So why aren't they doing anything?

Well, expect the same old story. They will back the polluting wine grower because he has more money and is more likely to throw a legal challenge at them if they try to protect the health and safety of the environment and the residents.

For shame Tasman District Council! Do your job. Protect your rate payers, not the industrialisation of the countryside.

Rural = Expendable II

I'm sorry.

I still don't get it. 

Why would you have a rule that maintained a level of 55dBA L10 at 300m for noise on the assumption that this would be within a tolerable level to allow sleep and then in the same piece of legislation, allow the placement of a frost fan that met that level within 100 metres of a neighbors property.

It beggars the imagination. This MUST be a mistake. There can be no law that allows for a neighbour to produce that much noise that it prevents sleep without some kind of limit.

It doesn't make sense. Whoever drafted that legislation and whoever proof read it and whoever voted to accept it were either incompetent or ignorant. Possibly both.

Bruno's the man

The Marlborough District Council have advised that Bruno Brosnan has been appointed as a designated Duty Planner to answer all public telephone and counter enquiries directed to them.

(Edited excerpt from the Council Web site)

Mr Bruno Brosnan is available from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm, Monday to Friday. He will apparently be able to answer enquiries in regard to matters involving the Resource Management Act 1991. Enquiries received outside the Duty Planner hours will be taken by a Customer Services Officer and relayed to Mr Brosnan who will respond the next work day.

So don't forget that the Council ARE here to work for you. This is their job. This is what we (the ratepayers) pay them to do.

Don't hesitate to give Bruno a call. He may be able to help or to point you in the right direction.

The Marlborough District Council operates a Customer Service Centre to handle all personal and telephone enquiries. It is staffed from 8.00 am-5.00 pm Monday to Friday. Outside these hours the main council phone number will still be answered, to handle any urgent issues such as noise complaints.

Postal Address:	Marlborough District Council PO Box 443 Blenheim 7240 New Zealand
Email:	mdc@marlborough.govt.nz
BLENHEIM CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE
Phone:	520 7400
Fax:	520 7496
Street Address:	15-21 Seymour Street (Seymour Square) Blenheim 7201

Rural = Expendable?

Why is there a rule in the District Plan in Marlborough that allows a frost fan to be sited within 100m of a residence (not on the same property) if it is zoned Rural?

Do people in rural areas not sleep?

Are they all operating frost fans, so they will be up and about any way?

Are rural neighbours so complacent that they don't mind the sound of whirling blades beating the air into submission within spitting distance of their bedrooms?

Are there rules that ensure that rural houses are built with better sound insulation?

Was there little or no thought put into the Plan when it was drafted?

In my humble opinion, one of those questions is right.

Cartoon: Carbon Footprint

Although I believe the 'Carbon footprint' concept to be a fraud perpetuated by the Y2K, bird flu, Ostrich breeding crowd, any use of the concept by frost fan wielding vineyards deserves suitable scorn just on basic principles.

When is enough enough?

A simple question popped into my head this weekend.

How much noise it too much noise?

The frost event on Saturday morning has certainly highlighted the significant volume of noise that is produced by frost fans, but presumably this noise level is adjudged by the Marlborough District Council as reasonable.

So what constitutes a reasonable level of noise?

They have set a value for an individual machine (55dBA L10 at 300m), but this certainly doesn't take into account the hundreds of machines that operate simultaneously. Aside from one Environment Court ruling that has imposed a need to consider the noise from more than one machine cumulatively there seems to be little comprehension that more machines = more noise.

It's pretty fundamental, it has a legal precedent, and yet I not an installation of approximately 20 Frost Boss machines being installed approximately 2.5km from Renwick.

Now there are a couple of points to note here;

Firstly, Frost Boss fans have a weighty reputation for being the quietest machine on the market due to their four bladed design and subsequent lower rotation speed. However, ultimately there is a noise being produced.

Secondly, at a distance of 2.5km, people tend to dismiss the effect because it seems so far away.

So, how loud will they be?

Calculations on the back of a napkin show that 20 fans producing 55dBA L10 at 300m result in a noise of approximately 50dBA L10 at 2.5km.

This is on the cusp of being intrusive to people's sleep when they are 2.5km away! Yet was any investigation done to protect residents who were closer? (rest assured there are plenty)

Cool! (but not in a good way)

As predicted a cool evening has produced a significant frost event (considering the November date).

In my humble opinion, this would be the worst of the growing season this year. I woke at 3am and a quick drive around the neighbourhood confirmed significant activity with helicopters, frost fans and return stack burners.

This would be the loudest that I can remember a frost event and I presume this is due to the increase in numbers of fans. The cumulative effect is certainly significant.

Interestingly, The cumulative effect has a positive spin of partially masking the 5 minute oscillation of frost fan noise and instead the noise is steadier (Louder, but steadier). The thumps from the blades are still significant, but the longer duty cycle oscillations are less noticeable because of the overall increase in noise.

Consider yourselves softened up.

November frosts are occurring around the country on the back of a few southerly fronts that have recently passed over the country.

No surprise then that frost protection methods will need to be employed to protect the new growth on budding vines.

Also no surprise to learn of the hoards of helicopters being readied for mixing the inversion layers over crops.

The frost fans will also be in action of course, but in an ironic twist of legislation, you can't currently regulate against the noise produced by a helicopter in flight under the Civil Aviation Act or the Resource Management Act. It might be possible under the Health Act if someone was brave enough (or annoyed enough after sleepless nights) to make a complaint that they presented a nuisance (literally, they would be referred to as a nuisance).

So prepare for reports of the massed flights of choppers saving crops across the nation. Also watch for the little anecdotes that are traditionally attached to these reports that tell of the annoyance of the neighbours of these devices.  What a pity! But at least the wine crop was saved! More mind altering drugs for everyone in these difficult economic times. 

Outstanding.

P.S. It's nice to be back after my little vacation. There was no truth to the rumours of my jaunts around the country campainging in the election. If the taxman asks, it was a family holiday!