The Marlborough District Council: Where the bleeding obvious goes to be ignored

Meet Hans Versteegh. Regulatory manager for the Marlborough District Council.

He is indeed in the hot seat. Frost fans must keep the plate pretty full I suppose.

Well I suppose if you had a rule in your district plan that you couldn't enforce, that would be troublesome wouldn't it?

Actually it would only be troublesome if it caused a nuisance or something. Kind of like if the rule was aimed at keeping a really loud noise quiet.

So if people thought the really loud noise was unreasonable, they could complain and get it sorted right?

Oh, hold on, you can't test the noise. Darn it.

Wait, what if someone demonstrated a way to tell if the noise was to loud?

Ahh.. I see the master at work... Agree with him that the method does show non compliance, but then wring your hands because it might be a bit scary to ask if the operators or the installers would they please set them to a correct level.

Thanks again to the Blenheim Sun Community newspaper for this follow up article to the previous piece on checking compliance.

I see that Hans mentions that prosecuting offenders means dealing with the court and criminal jurisdiction system. I presume that those who run their fans at a non compliant level are actually criminal offenders.

Sorry Hans, would that be the Criminal Court or the Environment Court?

I like your explanation better. If the fans are being too noisy, call the police. Hans said it's the right thing to do. It's a criminal act after all.

Can you get a finding beyond reasonable doubt on an unreasonable noise? (you're not ACTUALLY the legal expert are you?)

P.S. Hans: I see you're the Marlborough contact for the protection and recovery of the pygmy button daisy. Those daisy's really need our help. Really.

Inspector Frost. Nice. Very Nice.

Good on you Malcolm for providing a method for checking if fans are breaching the District plan. The attached scans are from the Blenheim Sun Newspaper, who ran a story on his efforts which he also posted here recently.

Of course there was also a reply from the Council which will follow in a separate post...

The Pursuit of Technology II: Frost Fan alternatives

Hard on the heels of the previous post about exploring alternatives for frost protection, is an advert pointed out to me by an alert reader for providing frost protection using electrical heating elements. It's targeteing areas specifically with fan / noise problems as a viable alternative.

Nice idea.

I would presume an initial infrastructure cost and then simply rent a generator for the frost season. It would be interesting to see the cost per acre for installation / running.

Well done to Daniel Le Brun at No 1 Family Estate (web site here and selection of undoubtedly fine wines (responsibly produced)).

Kudos also to Cresswell Electrical for installation services.

Frost Fan Myth: The problem is caused by lifestylers moving to the country

This is a common piece of misdirection put about by those who would have you believe that the noise from frost fans is a normal agricultural activity and that it's only since the the countryside has been overrun with people seeking a country lifestyle that the problem of noise has surfaced.

The way to identify that this is a false statement is to quietly examine the facts.

First of all the section 32 report that was released with the recent proposed rule change shows the increase of frost fan numbers in Marlborough. This shows that before 2000 there were practically no frost fans. The number climbed slowly to 100 in 2005. Then it picked up a bit of pace. By 2007 there were 300. By 2009 there were 1000.

So lets not fool ourselves here. The problems have blossomed because frost fan numbers have blossomed.

The second way to identify this as a myth, is that the myth automatically puts the blame for the problem onto anything other than frost fan use.

It couldn't possibly be something as simple as lots of unregulated frost fans being installed? It certainly wouldn't be something as simple as frost prone land that would normal be discounted for viticulture being used for growing grapes (irrespective of who's living next door)?

Here's the test for finding out who's to blame for when a frost fan is keeping you awake.

Did you build your house next to a frost fan? If the frost fan arrived after you built your house, then the problem is hardly of your making. (bonus marks if there wasn't even a vineyard nearby when your house was built)

Are the frost fan's near to you running at the right speed? This is a tricky one since the Council's track record at monitoring and compliance has been (how shall we put it), below expectations.

Is the operator a reasonable fellow or does he live in Sumner / Remuera? If they don't live on the property, the chances are that they probably don't much care about you or whether you're being kept awake.

Sorry, its a rambling blog post, but after seeing Stuart Smith spout his typical ' go back to town' speech, I had to get it off my chest.

Frost Fan Issue National News

TV1 viewers would have seen an article on the frost fan issue on tonights news broadcast

The text version of the story is here or you can watch the video segment here.

Stuart Smith couldn't help himself and touted the same tired scaremongering.

Likewise wine grower Chris Simmonds claimed that it was just 1% of the frost fans that were causing the problems. Err... Chris, have you checked out the results of the test of frost fan compliance lately? That would be more like 90% of them do not meet the requirements.

Sorry Chris, frost fan users in Marlborough have been running their machines at too high a level for years and as a result they have defecated in their own nest. THAT's why the Council is being forced to impose new regulations. It's the irresponsible users who thought they would set them to any level they wanted because the Council never checks them. It's not a few... It's almost all....

The chickens are coming home to roost.

Submissions Close Tomorrow

Have your say.

Support or oppose. If you don't put in a submission, the Council doesn't know what direction they will go in.

Your voice matters.

Handy Hints for Completing a Submission on the Frost Fan Plan Change

No doubt you are working through your submissions for the plan change (if not. you need to get moving).

Here are some handy hints from the form for making sure that your submission is formatted in a manner that makes reading and understanding your suggestions clear.

These words of advice are from the front of the submission form itself and should therefore be a pretty good guide

When preparing your submission you need to include the following:

“This part of my submission relates to …” - state the name of the plan change and the part(s) of the plan change that is/are the subject of your submission.

“I support (or oppose) this part of the plan change.” – state whether you support or oppose (in full or part).

“My reasons for supporting (or opposing) this part of the plan change …” - tell us what your concerns are and the reasons why you support or oppose the provisions in the plan change.

“The decision I seek from the Council is …” - How do you want the Council to respond to your submission? It is very important that you clearly state the decision you wish the Council to make as the Council cannot make changes which have not been specifically requested. Start by indicating if you want the provision to be retained, deleted or amended. If you want an amendment (including additional provisions) then specify what wording changes you would like to see.

REMEMBER - the clearer you can be, the easier it will be for the Council to understand your concerns and take them into account.

For example;

Plan Change 58:

Wairau/Awatere Resource Management Plan

Volume Two

This part of my submission relates to;

Definitions

1. Add a new definition as follows:

Frost fan means a land based device, designed or adapted to control frost by fanning warmer air over potentially frost-affected surfaces, and includes the support structure.

I support this part of the plan change.

Or perhaps...

Plan Change 58:

Wairau/Awatere Resource Management Plan

Volume Two

This part of my submission relates to;

Definitions

1. Add a new definition as follows:

Frost fan means a land based device, designed or adapted to control frost by fanning warmer air over potentially frost-affected surfaces, and includes the support structure.

I oppose this part of the plan change.

My reason for opposing this part of the plan change is that frost fans could evolve in form, shape or nature in many different ways and that this description need to be broader.

The decision I seek from the Council is to amend this provision to read the following;

Add a new definition as follows:

Frost fan means a device, designed or adapted to move an inversion layer of air to control frost at ground level.

Frost last night

I hope everyone enjoyed the frost last night. Not a big one, but enough to set the district alight (almost literally and figuratively).

If I read MetVUW correctly we could be heading for more noise on Wednesday and Saturday Morning. Fingers crossed!

Bladeless Fans and the Pursuit of Technology

Bladeless fans I hear you say. That doesn't sound right.
Well, the concept is unusual, and if it hadn't come from Sir James Dyson himself, I would be more concerned.

But if you have a look at the product home page here, or the related video where Sir James explains the principles here or (my favorite) a wonderful explanation of how it works here you will see a concept that is strange, but obviously effective.

Now I'm not going to expect that the concept will scale to something suitable for frost protection. However, it is a very real and somewhat related example of engineering applying solutions to problems that are out of the square.

This same development needs to continue for frost fans.

In short, the concept of using an inversion layer to provide warmth to a crop is a good one. Frost fans are an effective means of achieving this end. However, they have side effects.

The Defender has taken a step to reduce those side effects by employing a more aerodynamic blade and making it rotate more slowly and then compensating for the reduced flow by making the blade larger with a higher pitch.

The C49 from Frost Boss has taken a step further by using their already quiet 4 bladed technology and implementing an aerodynamic blade in conjunction with cleverly examining the airflow from the perspective of the actual job that the fan is doing (this is a relatively low speed fan compared to aircraft propellers) and designed their blades to suit. This is what puts them one step ahead of the Defender.

The end result for both these manufacturers is quieter fans that do the same (or perhaps better) job than before. This same evolution needs to continue but with an even bolder change in direction to allow for greater reduction in noise. A bladeless Dyson fan will probably not be the answer, but the answer WILL be something different from a conventional fan. Keep your thinking caps on.

Frost fans and the tragedy of the commons

If there's one overriding impression I've got from reading the paper (especially the letters to the editor), its that the effect of sleep deprivation on the people of Marlborough due to frost fan operation is a issue.

These people are annoyed. They're annoyed at absentee vineyard owners, they're annoyed at arrogant growers, they're annoyed at irresponsible frost fan operators, they're annoyed at an apathetic Council.

Make no mistake. The only reason a rule change is currently being mooted it that the Council are only now realizing that the problem has gone too far. people are going to get hurt and someone will have blood on their hands. It's the typical situation commonly described as the 'Tragedy of the commons".

This is a situation where a limited resource (in this case a level of noise low enough to allow sleep) is abused and ultimately destroyed by individuals acting selfishly in an unmanaged environment.

The Council set a rule that they failed to enforce. Selfish owners / operators / growers took advantage of the situation to try and maximize their own individual needs (by having their frost fans turned up too high and putting them too close to other residents). The end result is an environment so poisoned that they have made it unfit for use and ultimately hurt themselves by ending up looking like arrogant polluters. Obviously in an industry with a focus on a clean, responsible, product, this image is undesirable. Sadly they have maintained the attitude that the problem is not theirs, its the people who can't sleep's problem. A failure to engage in a proactive management of the issue from a collective perspective means that the district that so many people have enjoyed for so many years (yes, since before frost fans arrived in 2000) is now having to try and rescue itself from ruthless industrial greed.

Not farming.

Industry.

Have your say. Put in a submission on the proposed change to the frost fan rules.

You are being abused

A quick look at the testing data that was provided in the compliance checks that Malcolm posted shows that two of these NON COMPLIANT fans are right on the boundary of Blenheim!
In fact, to say they're on the boundary is being kind. One is practically in your back yard!

This is one reason why it's noisy in Marlborough

OK, It's fair to say that there has been some pressure applied to release this information (thanks Jack), but it goes to the heart of explaining one of the reasons why there is a noise problem from frost fans in Marlborough.

In short, Orchard Rite and Amarillo frost fans are being installed and run at speeds that result in noise that exceeds the limits laid down in the District Plan.

This information was a long time in the making and further testing would help represent the scale of the problem, however, in the short amount of testing done to date there is no doubt that two of the three frost fan brands are being installed in contravention of the District Plan.

The document that is here describes the results of the tests and provides the figures to back up the statement.

The data has been offered to the Marlborough District Council for independent checking. However, I encourage anyone to do the testing themselves to confirm the problem. The instructions for doing so are here.

Regards Malcolm

Practical observations on evaluating frost fan noise

Thanks for having me back on the blog again Jack.

This has obviously been a busy time for frost fan users and people concerned with their noise. I had previously posted a description of a method for evaluating the noise from a frost fan by measuring its rotation and a reason that this is necessary. This is a follow up to that description to describe the practical aspects of the measurement system.

The recent frost events (6^th,7^th,11^th of October 2009) provided an opportunity to evaluate the method for testing frost fans for compliance with Council regulations.

The evaluation was very useful in that it highlighted some improvements, limitations and successes of the method. It also threw up an unexpected piece of data that will be relatively important in evaluating the current noise environment and potential improvements.

The testing has confirmed that the measurement of fan rotation at night is possible and practical. It can easily be carried out at a distance of over 200m, depending on the type of fan (the dark green of the typical Amarillo means that the practical recording distance of these machines is reduced).

Recording using infrared is possible at 100m, but unless there is a specialist requirement for it, visible light gives an easier result to work with.

Noting the direction that the fan is facing is important, and often it is easier to note that verbally when recording as a note for later analysis.

The use of GPS to track location is very useful when recording in some remoter areas when familiar geographic references are absent.

It was found that in spite of the success of recording fans at night, it was remarkably easy to record a large number of fans just before and after sunrise as the ‘nightshot’ capabilities of some cameras provide suitable illumination for recording.

As the results of the evaluation have the potential to cause a certain amount of interest from more that one side of the frost fan noise debate, they will be posted separately at the time that the Council is informed of the issue via the complaint process.

Regards Malcolm

Brace Brace Brace

Several little birds have independently told me that this could be an interesting week.

There are rumours of Council meetings, head scratchings and finger pointing's.

Typically I'm as in the dark as ever, but everyone keep their ears open.

Ahh... helicopters at night are a vineyard's delight

Sadly, they're not quite as exciting if you're trying to sleep.

Hovering helicopters fall in the 'too hard' basket in terms of regulation for noise.

The CAA are only concerned with aircraft safety and the RMA specifically precludes aircraft in flight.

There's options there for exploring, but as yet there's no organisation with enough moxie to try and prevent them doing whatever they want to do. And frankly they're a better option than frost fans in many ways. They don't get used unless they're REALLY needed. As opposed to frost fans which will be switched on just because they can be in some cases.

Anyway, there's plenty flying about this evening, so I suppose it's time for another frost, By my count this will be the 5th night this season that I've heard them running, and I believe that others have had it much worse (a quick check of the letters to the editor will confirm that).

While I'm here I note that MetVUW has painted a not so pretty picture for the next few days. Could this be four nights in a row coming up?

Update: This prediction was correct (the fans ran). Although it seemed a bit warm to me!

This prediction was incorrect: No frost on Monday morning. That's nice

Update: this prediction was correct. Frost on Sunday Morning.

The frost sure does get people fired up!

There have obviously been a LOT of press articles recently on account of the frost and associated noise.

Here is a selection;

Night frost fans anger

Frosty reception for noisy frost fans

Vineyard to supply fan-free lodgings

Needless to say there have also been a string of letters to the editor. It would appear that sleepless nights give people a perfect opportunity to write what's on their mind.

Let's not forget to spend a bit of time on that frost fan rule change submission though!

And it's not even really cold!

Last night's frost has once again raised the ire of people trying to sleep across Marlborough. At least that is the story run in the Marlborough Express.

Small wonder. Tonight's frost and noise is currently in full swing and no doubt the tolerance of residents will be eroded even more (2nd night in a row and all).

Do try to remember, that no matter the provocation of unreasonable frost fan owners, there is no situation that would justify anything other than purely legitimate actions. As much as phoning the Mayor in the wee hours of the morning seems like a good idea at the time, unless he states that he's really interested in the plight of residents affected by the excessive noise, I think phoning him in the dead of night is harassment. Your time could be better spent drafting a submission to the plan change on frost fan activities (see here and here).

It's a small World

Napa Valley.

Nice place. Lots of wine. Up market.

Noisy.

At least for the neighbours of one particularly ornery vineyard operator who is apparently using an elderly and noisy frost fan. You can read plenty in the Napa Valley Register here and here.

His neighbours are crying foul, and many of them own frost fans (read the comments after the stories).

Two things from this article are interesting to note.

Firstly the bloody mindedness of this particular operator who simply doesn't appear to care about his neighbors (and why should he. He lives in San Francisco) .

Secondly the reported impact of his activities on the wine growing community. As a result of his intransigence, legislation will probably have to be passed to limit the noise of the fan to the detriment of many other fan owners.

It's kind of like the gun control debate. The old adage of "Guns don't kill people. People kill People" seems to hold water. In the case of frost fans. The fans aren't the problem. Its the people who use them irresponsibly.

Frost tonight?

Sure there's a lot of helicopter activity, but the forecast seems a little iffy. A quick look at metvuw makes it look a little like there may be some associated wind.

Oh well. Time will tell.

MORNING UPDATE:

With the distinct lack of frost, I'm going to call it metvuw 1: Helicopters 0.

Which is very interesting, because a similar pattern is predicted for tonight...

Who should be putting in a submission on the Council Plan for Frost Fans?

It's hard to know isn't it?

1. Should I put forward my opinion?
2. Will anyone care?
3. Will I make a difference?
4. Does my opinion matter?

So many people will pussy foot about wondering about the answers to those questions that I thought I would make it easier for you.

Answers:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes

Even if you've never noticed the problem before, with the increase of frost fan numbers, you will notice it in the future if you do nothing now. And don't expect to get much sympathy from money hungry lawyers, consultants, Councillors and fat cat foreign winery investors. "You had your chance to do something back in 2009" they'll say. "Why didn't you do something then?". And they'll be laughing at your plight while ravaging the environment.

How bad is it?

The following picture is from the Council and shows what they believe to be frost fan locations (but not all) in Marlborough. Click on it for a larger image (approx 250kB).

Overlaid on this (in red) is a representation of the areas that will be affected by their noise (that part wasn't in the original Council picture).

If you're in this red area, you need to put in a submission.

If you're close to this red area, you need to put in a submission.

If you like sleeping, you need to put in a submission.

Check the previous post for details on the submission, and I will post more in the future.