The MDC shows intestinal fortitude

In the Marlborough express today is a report of the good folks from Mount Riley Vineyards having a bit of a squeal about being found in breach of the noise rules for frost fans.

It would appear that not only is it ridiculously difficult to get any testing done on a frost fan, but when it is carried out and doesn't go the way the winery wants, they want to carry on with business as usual anyway.

Per the suggestion from an earlier commentator, here's some info from Mount Riley Vineyards website.

They own seven vineyards. The offending vineyard in this case appears to be the Waihopai Vineyard. There is a picture of it on their website, but the frost fans do not feature. Pity, since any publicity is good publicity right?

The winery is owned by John and Lyn Buchanan and their daughter Amy. Amy's husband (Matt Murphy is the wine-maker). Possibly one of the reasons that they are keen to explore legal proceedings is that Amy is also a solicitor. Very handy when faced with unreasonable neighbors that seem to go on and on about trifling things like being kept awake at night.

It can be assumed that the quote from their website "At Mt Riley we believe in winemaking by minimal intervention" should be taken in context that minimal intervention can take the form of multiple twirling blades of metal operating throughout the night and keeping our neighbours awake.

If you want to find out more about their wines you should go to this page.

And don't miss an opportunity to read their vintage reports here. True to form for winegrowers, it would appear that every year is special.

Thank you Mount Riley for your compassion in dealing with this matter in a responsible manner. In fact could this be the industry/individual discussions alluded to in the Council meeting on the 24th of August? Or could it be the actions of persons that were described by Councillor Maher at the same meeting?

Irrespective, there is kudos to be handed out to the Marlborough District Council for recognising the situation for what it is. Simply a case of a landowner breaching the rules. Are they special?

The real pity of the entire episode is that even if Mount Riley did the right thing and set their fans to a responsible noise level they would still breach the noise level set by the World Health Organisation for healthy living.

Who's right? Defender Advertising or Defender Testing data?

Further to the information in the Defender testing document, I note that there is an inconsistency in the technical data supplied.

In the University of Canterbury document the nominal engine speed is given as approximately 2000rpm and the fan speed as approximately 360rpm.

In the Defender/FMR advertising the gear drives that are reported for the upper and lower gears are UD105 and W85 respectively.

So here's the deal. The ratios specified for the gears on the Amarillo web page are 1.64:1 for the UD105 and 2.25:1 for the W85.

And so in theory 2000/(1.64x2.25) should equal 360 if both the UoC and FMR Advertising were talking about the same product.

But it doesn't.

FMR are either still peddling the same specifications for the Amarillo in the Defender advertising or the University of Canterbury are having problems with an equation that a 9 year old could get right. I'm picking that the FMR advertising bureau have covered themselves in glory once again.

This wouldn't be too bad, but as part of checking compliance of these machines, one of the methods is to measure the speed of the engine with a tachometer and to calculate the fan speed from the supplied gear ratios. It's not going to be a pretty sight if the calculation for a Defender fan shows it to be turning at 542rpm. Not pretty at all.

But wait!!

It get's more interesting.

On the same web page that provides the gear ratios, is a small note near the bottom that talks about the electric powered wind machines. A UD105E, of which there is a variant that is exported for use on 50 Hz systems, has a ratio of 2.47:1.

And guess what?

2000/(2.47x2.25) equals 360. Which would be correct according to the UoC figures. So I'm going to presume that in spite of what the Defender advertising says, the University of Canterbury figures are correct and that the model of upper gear used in the Defender is the export model UD105E.

Now this might all seem like nit picking at the expense of a company that is more interested in a glossy brochure than the accuracy of the figures in it, but there is a slightly more worrying side.

The Amarillo gear company are justifiably proud of their sturdy gears. So much so that they specify their mechanical rating for both the UD105 and the W85. And both of these units are used in the Amarillo frost fan which is rated at 125HP at the fan.

But the electric powered fans are a different kettle of fish. They are rated at either 100, 75 or 50hp at the fan. And as a result the mechanical rating of the gears can afford to be less.

So what would happen to a gear that is rated for a light load on a frost fan designed to run electrically when it is used in a diesel powered fan which runs at a heavier load? What is the subsequent load when the thrust of the fan is increased when a larger fan is put on the tower?

I'm sure all these trifling mechanical matters have been carefully considered by the manufacturer and that they have sought the advice of the parts suppliers in making sure that the device is safe for use. I mean, that would be the responsible thing wouldn't it?

Fans operate for second night in a row

The fans were operating again lats night / this morning. More interestingly, there was a fair breeze blowing from about 1am, so these would have been operating in conditions that were outside those considered safe by manufacturers and the Department of Labour. Of course, most fans are too primitive to know if the wind was blowing and one day in a good sou-wester, there will be widespread carnage as fans disintegrate.

First fan operation of Spring.

Early morning of the 20th of September was the first confirmed operation of frost fans in Marlborough for the spring season.

Good times are here again.

Good news. Some testing data on the Defender fan has arrived

Well we finally have some information from the boffins at University of Canterbury. Specifically a K. Shaw and Dr John Pearse.

The testing report can be downloaded from here.

The first thing I would like to say is that is appears to be a quieter machine than the Amarillo. This would not be difficult of course, but credit where it is due, any improvement is not to be sneezed at.

The second thing of note is that it appears that FMR has been publishing incorrect data on the machine in its advertising. In the latest brochure (here (~500kB)) they state that "At full operating rpm the new Defender fan is producing less than 50dba(L10) at 300mt". I could be nit picky and poke the borax at the advertising wienie's understanding of basic physical measurements (that should be 50dBA (L10) and 300m (there is no 't' in the metres abbreviation, clowns)). However, an astute reader will note that I would seldom stoop to such a thing. Instead I will quietly point out that no test shows that the Defender ever produced less than 50dBA (L10) at 300m. In fact the testing states that the only test carried out at 300m produced 52.0dBA (L10). Almost twice as much as claimed. (on the basis that a 3dB increase is a doubling of noise energy).

There are several other tests at various distances, (100m and 200m) but only one at 300m.

The last point and the most interesting is that the claim of "less than 50dba(L10) at 300mt" was most likely derived from a predicted value for noise from the fan. Not measured.

More interesting still was the method of prediction. You see the 300m test wasn't done in frosty, inversion layer conditions. Instead they were done in 11 degrees centigrade and a cross-wind. There is a prediction method that allows for compensating for differing climatic conditions when measuring noise. This is the CONCAWE method (1MB) (there are infact several different methods).

Sadly this method does not allow for the presence of an inversion layer with it's associated noise refraction properties and worst of all it is not designed for the noise from frost fans. Instead it is designed to be applied to petrochemical installations. Now I would be happy to say that the prediction methods for frost fan noise using the CONCAWE method were valid, but that has never been demonstrated, and quite frankly when the testing presumes to predict that noise from a frost fan will be quieter when an inversion is in place on a calm frosty night, I have my doubts.

By the way, what frequency ranges were being considered in the noise report? I couldn't see any stated, yet it appears to be a big deal when doing the CONCAWE calculations. I suppose the frequencies most likely to be associated with a frost fan?

I'm sorry Dr Pearse, some testing to validate the CONCAWE model against the noise characteristics of a frost fan in frost conditions would be required. Otherwise any predicted values are assumptions, not conclusions.

We come in peace. Give me your water.

When they couldn't get it legitimately, they just took it.

This article in stuff.co.nz is the sort of activity that simply puts a bad face on the wine industry in general and some of the rat bag, out of town financiers that are infesting Marlborough and other parts of New Zealand (Hello Waiata vineyard in Hurunui).

A classic case of absentee owners (hello Auckland) trying to invest into the 'glamour industry' that wine is being marketed as. High rolling, great investment, know all the right people, you know the score.

Well let's throw a little bit of poor planning and bad management into the mix.

Que the failure to secure sufficient water for the vineyard.

"Never mind the water, lets plant the vines!"

"Oh, hang on, you mean they need water??!?"

"Don't worry about getting permission, just take the water. It's easier to pay the fine than to let our poor planning cause loss of revenue."

Nice. Really nice.

So. The wine industry. Turning wannabe viticulturist investors into law breakers who committed an environmental incident labelled as "reckless, irresponsible and deliberate".

I know this story is not about frost fans, but the mind set is just the same. Loot and pillage.

What they said in the Council Meeting on the 24th of August

Although it has already been reported that there was universal support for the proposed changes to the frost fan rules in the recent Council meeting, please find a selection of quotations from that meeting here;

Councillor Bowers;
“I’m pleased that they’re called frost fans now, not wind machines, because in actual fact they’re being used for a lot of variety of things when there’s no frost.”

Pere Hawes;
“The existing wind machines (or frost fans as we’re now calling them) are covered by existing use rights, that is, if they comply with the existing permitted activity standard, they can continue to operate in accordance with that permitted activity standard.”

Councillor Bunting;
“Councillors, you will be aware that this is an attempt to put council on the front foot with this one, because it’s made it very difficult for Council staff members to achieve compliance, and this way any new frost fans will have to prove that they comply, rather than as it currently stands whereby members of public need to prove they don’t comply, which is a difficult, difficult thing for people to do."

Councillor Taylor;
"That’s a concern that I’ve got one on the graph here that shows nearly a thousand already in place, and that is a concern regarding the existing ones which are of course the problem”

Councillor Jerram;
“As you will note, I am a rural person and I am traditionally in favour of… ahhh I’m sympathetic to rural causes, but I support this motion on the grounds that this is not traditional rural noise, it is new rural noise. It’s something that we haven’t seen before. It’s not headers at night or weaned calves, or whatever noises that have always been accepted in this country, it’s something quite new, and it’s significantly worse than anything we’ve seen before.”
"Where these are used, it’s a need to grow grapes in areas which are either marginally environmentally correct, or right outside their natural environment. So I think it’s not reasonable to then, say to anyone who lives in the area, “oh and you’ve go to put up with this noise as well, we’ve moved into your area to grow a crop for which we have to significantly alter the environment”. So I’m supporting it on those grounds. Really Madam chair I think we should have done this a long time ago, and also for gas guns”.

Councillor Bunting;
“The industry has taken on board concerns and are starting to make moves to discuss it with the affected parties, discuss their individual issues, because quite a lot of them are quite subjective issues due to the climatic conditions that the situation of the buildings nearby to hills or with echo effect on hills and also cumulative effect of a number of machines. So industry did indicate at our last meeting that they were interested in discussing with individuals and I believe that some of those discussions have started.”

Councillor Bunting;
“Can you say why we’ve referred to the 100m?”
Pere Hawes;
"The 100 metres has been removed really on the basis that it didn’t relate to any noise management provisions at all. In fact the genesis of that standard was very unclear.”

Councillor Maher;
“It’s great that we have actually got to this stage where we are able to deal with some of the rogues that there have been, as most of these machines have not affected people. Mostly good will has been used, and common sense has been used. Unfortunately it hasn’t in some cases and some of those people that have been aware of the usual rural rules have tried to hide behind the right to farm and the fact that this is a farming environment. What they’ve got to learn (and some of these people are not locals) is that there are standards that have been, over a long time, have been built up, and they’ve been built up on reasonableness and consideration for others and whatever industry you’re in, if you move away from those, Council will be required to legislate as in this particular case. And I as a rural person find it a real pity that this good will is actually being milked and probably abused by people without blatant consideration for others and I think that’s a great pity that Councillors have to go through this process and those few people have caused this and they’ve cause considerable hardship to a number of individuals too and it’s a great pity that we aren’t able to do something retrospectively but I think with the new regulations and once we do get our forensic stuff done, that we can actually quantify and qualify these things more accurately than we’ve been able to do in the past. So overall I think this is unfortunate but it will have a positive effect on people living in the rural environment.”
“I’ve been rural environment for a long time myself, but these things ,when they start springing up near me, I actually start to question, and actually, aren’t tolerances actually stretched when it comes to these machines being installed incorrectly and abusing the good will that there has been.”
Councillor Bunting;
“Thank you, the deputy chair, I certainly would echo your sentiments and that has been motivation for driving this item along. As you know it has been driven fairly rapidly, and I think the Industry does have a belief now that they do need to discuss with the affected people, the most affected people, what their concerns are and perhaps even experience it themselves for a little while.”

There's a new Boss in town. Frost Boss

Yes indeedy, a couple of the new C49 four bladed Frost Boss fans have apparently touched down in the Waihopai valley.

To my knowledge this would be the first sighting in the wild and how about the timing? A few nights of frost coming up (although it may be a bit early for most vines).

Some will have noticed only a couple of fans running last night.

So will these be noticeably quieter? They certainly look the part. Time will tell if they sound the part.

Is it going to be frosty?

You betcha!

See the latest on the weather here at metvuw.com

It's a mixed up confusing world.

I really don't know what to think about this particular issue, so please accept that I have no opinion and am really only interested in providing information.

My attention was grabbed by the article in stuff.co.nz on the Marlborough District Council indicating funding being given to an organisation called the Dryland Forestry Initiative to investigate the use of eucalypts as posts in vineyards in preference to treated timber (seems like a great opportunity to decrie the vineyards poisoning of the ground (who can forget the arsenic in the ground water at Rarangi?)).

So well done on the part of the DFI. Right?

Even better, a quote in the article has the spokesperson for DFI reporting that he had approached the wine industry several times for funding, but was told that they were "in the business of growing grapes not trees". Golly those rat bag wine industry types. Right?

But a quick look at the DFI web site shows several wine industry types involved;

Colin Ross of Seresin Wines

Andrew (or) Ngaire Lawson (viticulturist)

And an interest from Organic Winegrowers New Zealand.

So it does kind of look like there is an interest and support from the wine industry. So it seems like a strange comment from Paul Millen (the project manager for DFI).

So, cue a bit of quick Googling;

The story does not appear to be entirely accurate. While it reports that "Last year the Marlborough District Council agreed to fund the project for three years with $10,000 per year, conditional on a review being carried out at the end of the first year.", what it fails to mention is that waaay back in 2005 the Marlborough District Council approved funding of $10,000 per year to support a Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) research proposal into the potential use of eucalyptus timber for vineyard posts.

Does that sound familiar? It should do it was from the same Paul Millen. Now I don't want to appear to detract from Paul's outstanding efforts in investigations into forestry and wood use. It is to be commended. This is of course driven (I assume) from his consultancy firm Millen associates. (Also known for their work in the Kaikora area on consulting in biodiversity areas for the Council down that way).

It would also complement his work with the other companies he is a director of (Vineyard Timbers Limited and Marlborough Timber Limited).

So in total it would appear to be receiving funding from the Marlborough District Council to the tune of $10,000 per year from 2005/06? I'm not entirely sure that is the case however, since it would appear from the meeting of the Community and Financial Planning Committee on 12 June 2008 that MAF actually declined the project support from the Sustainable Farming Fund on the grounds that they were not perceived as "Value for money".

I would have thought that was obvious as they are trying to provide a more sustainable means of providing fence posts. Not a cheaper way.

So, what I think has occurred is that no money has changed hands yet, but that now the Council is considering handing out rate payers dollars to fund research into solving the problem created by the vineyards which they refuse to acknowledge. Now it sounds familiar.

But wait, there has to be a twist. And sure enough there is.

Enter stage left the;

Executive Officer of the Marlborough Research Centre Trust;

Member of the Marlborough Wine Research Centre Board,

Wine Marlborough Executive Officer,

Environmental Policy Committee Member,

Marlborough District Councillor,

Former Mayor

Gerald Hope.

Never a man to let an opportunity pass by, he is also the Financial Officer for Drylands Forrest Initiative (DFI).

I would say if there was a man that could organise funding from either the Marlborough District Council (he sits on both the Council proper and the Environment Committee) or the Wine industry, he would be the man.

I would assume that funding for research into Eucalyptus tree growing is assured Paul. So long as Councillor Hope is recusing himself from a multitude of meeting agenda items.

There's a bad smell coming from Orchard Rite

Too much time spent on the Internet will rot your brain. But before you leave....
Have a look at the following article (click on the thumbnail).

It describes the use of Orchard Rite fans to disperse sewage smells.

It turns out they were pretty successful, however people stopped complaining about the smell and then started complaining about the noise (some people would complain if their rear end was on fire!).

Interestingly, Orchard Rite (which in their two bladed form is widely regarded (at least hereabouts) as the noisiest model of all fans) made modifications to their fans to make them quieter by adding blades to use 3, 4 and then 5 bladed models (the picture shows the 5 bladed models).

So they can be made quiet, but first you have to raise a stink. Sound familiar?

It's grim times. But don't expect judgements to be clouded.

There is no doubt the the fiscal realities of growing a crop that serves as a 'luxury' foodstuff can be a bit of an issue in times of economic hardship.

So the question has to be asked are those who are hurting those who's poor planning means that they can't withstand a year or two of poor returns?

Anyone from a genuine farming background will know that there are good years and bad years. You reap in the good so that you can survive in the bad. If you have an expectation that all years will be good and plan accordingly, you will get stung. It's called greed. You can smell it on some people.

It therefore comes as a surprise to read the following from the manager of the Cheviot Kirribilly Vineyard Property Group.

Grape growers in Australia have arrived at the Rubicon.

In the latest 2009 vintage, it is now clear that grape prices have collapsed, with numerous district weighted average (“DWA”) prices some 25% below the prior 2008 vintage, despite the marginally lower tonnages of grapes produced. Whilst a reduction of DWAs was envisaged, the quantum is well above most reasonable forecasts and represents the culmination of a concerted campaign by grape buyers – mainly the larger wine producers – to lower their input costs and de facto reduce Australia’s wine surplus. Their behaviour is, of course, being driven by factors such as the higher Australian dollar, retailer consolidation and desires for further efficiencies.

The fact now remains that many grape growers face the choice of four unpalatable alternatives:

• Bankruptcy;
• Government financial assistance to remove vines, turn over the land to alternative use and move on;
• Attempted sales at well below perceived values four or five years ago, into a vineyard market swollen by the desires of at least two major integrated wine producers to reduce their levels of fixed capital; or
• Subsistence living with no return on capital given that grape prices in some varietals and areas appear to reflect little more than the basic cost of production.

So, for one manager at least, it looks a little like one bad year means disaster. While I would normally focus on frost fan issues, it pains me to see practices such as viticulture, which are touted as agriculture, cry "disaster" after years of greed have produced a poor return in one year.

Genuine farmers know better. They have managed their properties sensibly and responsibility, ever mindful that the fickle nature of the climate, be it physical or financial, can throw a curve ball every now and again.

If you're sitting in Remuera bemoaning the poor investment you made in wine, you have got everything you deserve.

More hand wringing. Can you ever have enough?

This article in the Marlborough Express has a couple of comments from Councilors at yesterday's meeting;

Peter Jerram; "We should have done this a long time ago."

Francis Maher; "Frost fans had caused, "a lot of hardship to people""

I would like to think that in the words of L.V. Martin "It's the putting right that counts". The people of Marlborough have suffered. Some of them have suffered tremendously because of this issue. While the 1000 or so fans in the district are still a huge issue, having a system in place to enforce responsible use of new fans is a positive step. In all reality this mirrors steps being taken in Tasman and The Hurunui. The environment has suffered enough. The residents have been pushed to breaking point. Change is coming.

So how'd the meeting go?

Well by all accounts not to badly.

In fact I am informed that the tone of the discussions centered on the fact that it appears that all the councillors were mightily concerned at the effects. They appeared to basically agree that the situation is out of control with the current regulations and that it needs putting right. The was also talk of concern that the fans that are already installed could not be legislated against, but there you go. The best that could be done there appeared to be monitoring the scale of the disaster rather than putting it to a stop.

Sorry we all told you so for so many years. You may assume that it provides the public a cold comfort indeed to be proven right. No sign of any apologies form any councillors who had previously been involved in granting consents for fan installations.

There you go.

For those so inclined, a copy of the section 32 report on the plan change can be downloaded from here;

Suddenly its gone quiet. Too quiet.

There is a possibility, that I was mistaken. Yes, I know hard to believe.

In this post two days ago, I claimed that there had been no monitoring of frost fans by the Council except for an abortive (and embarrassing) debacle about two years ago and one earlier this year for which the results had not even been published.

A small bird has told me that the results HAVE now been published. I have yet to have a copy hand delivered, but I understand there is something in there that will come as a bit of a shock.

You might want to sit down.

Both fans measured were found to be non-compliant with the District plan.

I know, I know, it came as a shock to me too.

Surely the growers were taking great pains to make sure they were protecting the environment and their neighbours?

Surely the frost fan installers (I presume that this was FMR as I understand that they are Amarillo fans) were professional in making sure their clients weren't exposed to breaching the District rules?

Wait! I know what's happened! By some amazing fluke they have selected the only two non-compliant frost fans in the district. Curse their bad luck!

Apparently there's still more (trust me, I'm still reeling). Both fans apparently exhibited special audible characteristics (tonality and impulsiveness), which make them particularly annoying.

Wow! That's not the best is it?

I suppose it could have been worse, there could have been someone (perhaps even a family) living next door who had been there for many years before the grapes were planted and the fans put in. This family could in theory be 100m away from these fans. Boy, it's lucky that's not the case and that they didn't measure the noise outside their house!

Hang on. There IS a family living next door who had these fans planted 100m away from them?

And the noise was measured at 74dBA L10?

Wait a minute, that can't be right. That level of noise is the same as having an un-silenced wood chipper running outside your bedroom. Surely they would complain? Oh they did? Years ago? and the Council wrung their hands for how long?

So now they're going to do something right?

Right?

Meeting 1:30pm Monday in the Council chambers. Item 1. Frost fans.

Show them the money!

Art for art's sake. Wine for money's sake.

See if you can pigeon hole these people;

Making the list of quotes and sentences attributed to people below was intended to be fairly serious, but in retrospect, there is a certain humorous aspect, that is not helped by my (random (really!!)) arranging of them.

Geoff Matthews:

• "It's shaping up to be one of the best vintages."

Stuart Smith:

• One of the big advantages with wine, is that consumers can't get enough of it. Even though New Zealand's production - and world production - is steadily climbing, Smith says it's likely we'll be "running out of wine" to fill demand.
• "We aren't going to have an oversupply,"
• "There's no point in taking grapes that we don't need and turning it into wine that we can't sell
• the extra wine would have to go off shore as the domestic market would not be able to absorb it all.
• "I believe we are doing a good job of managing it,"
• "Each year we have made projections about sales and growth, and each year these are fulfilled and often surpassed. This year is no exception,"
• "Managing a supply-demand imbalance in the long-term interests of the industry will inevitably involve short-term pain."
• "Without doubt, the situation was exacerbated by the global recession. As a result, lower profits are the reality for many in the industry this year."
• "I think it is a problem, but some companies are doing very well in matching their supply to the markets."
• Wine would end up being sold unprofitably if production levels remained high
• "Inevitably volumes will increase
• "Well, I like drinking wine"
• "I don't think quality is the issue,"
• Setting a minimum price for a unit of alcohol would be the best way to address excess drinking by youths.
• we don't come cheap
• "we've one of the highest returns (per bottle),"
• Profit is not there until you have the money in the bank
• Activities such as drinking and smoking, which are perceived as bad for health.
• "What we have to do is maintain that and the only way to do that is maintain the growth and ensure the marketing dollars are spent wisely."
• "I don't hold any fears for the quality of Marlborough sauvignon blanc."
• "The council should not be attempting to find middle ground between two warring factions."
• any contractors breaking the rules needed to see the "full wrath of the law".
• Rural residents simply have to put up with rural situations
• "We are in a period of change and long term the industry has a fantastic future but it's going to be a readjustment."
• everyone is entitled to their opinion
• overseas investment was a good thing for the New Zealand wine industry because the investing companies came with their own distribution channels
• the wine industry makes a big impression on the landscape here

Allan Scott:

• Sensible management, taking only what was needed and taking advice of others.
• gross oversupply would "kill the industry"
• "It's been a bit crazy with plantings in water-short areas and in areas which are obviously uneconomic, putting a lot of pressure on the infrastructure."

Dr John Forrest:

• The "shite 20 per cent" of last year's vintage should not have been on the market, cane numbers should have been reduced The industry should have been given some teeth to control what was being sold overseas.
• people are losing control of Marlborough sauvignon blanc and bulk exports. Quality is all important
• most wineries took in more fruit than they needed, of which he estimated about 20 per cent was of compromised quality.

Marcus Pickens:

• the large vintage will mean the demand of overseas markets will be consistently met, both with quality and quantity.

Neal Ibbotson:

• "The market is still growing for sauvignon blanc, so eventually we will come back in supply-demand balance. Sales are still increasing."
• wineries would place restrictions on growers to ensure the wineries stayed market-led.

Phillip Gregan:

• wasn't too concerned by what some of the industry perceived as desperation dumping.
• "There's a lot of potential for bulk wine because of the bulk harvest.
• "I'd expect to see substantial growth in the export market in the next 12 months. But just how much by, we don't know."
• I'm not too concerned by what some of the industry perceived as desperation dumping.
• nearly half of the country's wine production is now in the hands of overseas-owned companies. "We take foreign investment as a sign of marketplace success for New Zealand wines," he said. "It means we're successful and people want to be part of it."

Marcus Pickens:

• selling wine in bulk is part of modern-day business.
• wine sold in bulk was usually not premium wine and was not going to be labelled as premium, therefore wine labelled as premium is exactly that

Gary Neale:

• "Australia is absolutely flooded with cheap Marlborough sauvignon blanc,"
• if you keep oversupplying the market, then the prices will not go up.

Blair Gibbs:

• Marlborough sauvignon blanc exports were "absolutely flying"

Alistair Sowman:

• "You are protecting an industry and it provides a massive economic boost to the community, but there are some times when you have to put those economic benefits aside and look at social issues."

Michael Hyson:

• "Until now, they've turned a blind eye."

Come in Spinner!

In the recent article in the Marlborough Express on the upcoming environmental policy committee meeting on the 24th (especially regards frost fans), there were several comments which caught my eye.

Firstly Stuart Smith. Describing the proposed changes as an "ill thought quick fix" seems a bit rich considering the extraordinarily long time its taken and the endless debate that has been occurring around the issue. Then claiming that the rural sector is being "foot tripped every step of the way" is pitiful. How many resource consents have EVER been turned down on an application to install a frost fan? NONE. If that is 'foot tripping', I'd hate to see them get assistance! As for any implication from both him and Jill Bunting that there has been any form of discussions between affected residents, Council and the NZ Wine growers, that is pure fiction. The only interaction has been filing of submissions, court appearances and curt words over the fence. There's been no indication of a desire to mediate or negotiate, probably on account of the separation of significant foreign (not local) ownership of the vineyards themselves. Why would the owner care? They don't live there. Send in the lawyers.

Secondly Jill Bunting. "This is a fair outcome for everyone". What on earth? Yeah, all those people with their houses 100m away from a mechanical noise maker are thanking you now Jill. All those people whose houses are currently surrounded by fans are probably worshiping an effigy of you as I write. "Monitoring of existing machines was taking place". Eh? Where? Do you mean the abortive efforts by Neil Morris a couple of years ago that were so flawed that a separate report had to be written to explain how a 5dB penalty should be subtracted not added? perhaps you mean the testing earlier this year down the Waihopai valley? Good start, only took four years of complaints to action and then we have still not seen the results. THERE IS NO MONITORING. That's why Mr Maassen has said that there needs to be some!

I see Malcolm and Paul got a couple of digs in. But really they're stuffed aren't they? Since their problems can't be fixed by this change, all they can do is hope that things improve for some other soul in an unaffected part of Marlborough (if it exists).

What's missing here?

Excerpt from the summary of the agenda for the upcoming Environment Committee Meeting to be held on the 24th (Monday) of August (be there!);

"The permitted activity rules in the resource management plans for managing noise generated from the use of wind machines for frost protection have proven to be difficult to implement. There has been difficulty in knowing whether all of the wind machines currently in place have actually met the permitted activity standards, prior to the machines being installed. In this regard the rules can not be considered to be effective."

Rules not effective! Really! How long did it take before this was worked out?

Activity rules from wind machines difficult to implement? How about "impossible!" Or more like "never done?". Call it what it really is... THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN MONITORED.

Herein lies one of the big problems with this rule change; no provision is made for monitoring compliance! They will be left in the same boat as before. The rules are made for a single fan when in many cases the cumulative effects will be to blame. Get with the program. If the Environment Court says that cumulative noise is a problem, you need to recognise it! Otherwise you will be wasting more of the ratepayers money getting your arse dragged back through the Courts.

Definitions

Plan: Have the will and intention to carry out some action; "The Marlborough District Council plan to protect the health of residents".

Integrity: Moral soundness; "The Marlborough District Council have acted with integrity when faced with difficult decisions"

Duty: Work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons; "The Marlborough District Council have a duty to protect the environment."

Responsibility: The trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one's conduct; "The Marlborough District Council are fulfilling their responsibilities under the RMA and Health Acts"

Rudderless: Lacking in direction, control, or coherence; "The Marlborough District Council are rudderless in the face of providing sound policy "

Inept: Displaying a lack of judgment, sense, or reason; "The Marlborough District Council have been inept in their handling of frost fan resource consents"

Hypocrisy: A show or expression of feelings or beliefs one does not actually hold or possess; "The Marlborough District Council have displayed hypocrisy in dealing with the human impact of frost fan noise"

Clueless: Totally uninformed about what is going on or not having even a clue from which to infer what is occurring; "The Marlborough District Council have been clueless in the pursuit of suitable monitoring methodologies for frost fans"

Indifferent: Showing no care or concern in attitude or action; "The Marlborough District Council are indifferent to the health of the residents"

Definitions of words and examples of their use in everyday language. Some examples are more believable than others.

Is there any sense of responsibility?

With the upcoming meeting of the Marlborough District Council's Environmental Policy Committee (Monday the 24th of August at 1:30pm) the Frost Fan issue will get another public hearing.

A casual observer would have to ask themselves just what the hell is going on?

One group of people want to grow grapes and another want to sleep at night. The two activities should be able to be carried out simultaneously. This is not rocket science.

The problem comes about because of a lack of identifying the problem and acting to ensure that it won't impact either party.

The fault lies predominantly with the Marlborough District Council in its lack of fortitude and an inability to take responsibility for ensuring the productivity of the land and the health of its residents are adequately addressed.

The end result is a situation where one party has an imbalance of affect over the other, and logically the squealing has begun.

Now residents cannot sleep and are livid at a failure to protect their basic right to sleep and growers in a need to try and protect themselves from a potential kneejerk action (now that the mater of the legal ramifications of poisoning the environment are raised) are having to look like idiots by claiming that the current measures themselves are too draconian.

In the middle is the MDC. Happy to let the ship of fools sail on so long as their own personal interests are not impacted.

Or are they going to take some responsibility for the situation?