The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Central Otago family backed over orchard turbines noise complaint

By Pam Jones
Otago Daily Times·
25 Aug, 2019 11:50 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Katie Hill and her 3-month-old twins Chloe (left) and Zac on the boundary of her property near a noisy frost-fighting turbine. Photo / Gregor Richardson

Katie Hill and her 3-month-old twins Chloe (left) and Zac on the boundary of her property near a noisy frost-fighting turbine. Photo / Gregor Richardson

The Central Otago District Council's rules surrounding frost-fighting wind turbines have come in for further criticism, as more residents speak up about noise pollution in the district.

Letts Gully family Katie and Hunter Hill spoke up last week about the "unbearable" noise from turbines near their home on orchards owned and managed by Leaning Rock Cherries Ltd.

There were no turbines on neighbouring orchards when Mr Hill bought the property 12 years ago, but now there are two about 250m away from their house and one 100m away.

Leaning Rock manager Pete Bennie has declined to comment, but last week more Letts Gully residents spoke out in support of the Hills.

John Grant, of Hawkdun Rise Vineyard and Accommodation, who spoke up several years ago about the issue, said noise from frost-fighting turbines was getting worse.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nigel Murray, who lives several hundred metres away from turbines, said pollution from any other industry was required to be controlled and it was "unreasonable for any industry to operate to the detriment of surrounding residents".

READ MORE:
• Central Otago family says noise from orchard turbines 'unbearable'

Other residents responded on Facebook.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Katie is not the only one having to put up with being woken in the night in both autumn and spring," Tim Whittaker, who also lives near Leaning Rock orchards, said.

"We came home to see a wind machine straight out our kitchen window at just over 100m. A new orchard on the boundary, high poles for the cover structure, no consents needed, soil build up on our fences, water running down on to our property. Not even any consultation."

Katie Mulholland said "this is [a] huge problem for this area of Alexandra, the season when the turbines or helicopters are out is getting longer - just started this weekend and will go through until at least early December - and we live around 1km away and it wakes us up, so I can only imagine what Katie and her family are living through".

In short

Discover more

Winter grazing taskforce members announced

19 Aug 09:30 PM

Orchard turbines puts wind up rural family

21 Aug 10:15 PM

Opinions differ on whitebait levels in Southland

21 Aug 10:00 PM

Our precious soils need protection from property

22 Aug 12:00 AM

• The Central Otago District Council's district plan allows frost-fighting wind turbines to be built as close as 300m from a residential or rural settlement resource area, and 100m from a house within a rural or rural residential zone.

• Any turbine used for frost control must not exceed 65 decibels at 300m. There is no rule about noise at 100m.

• World Health Organisation recommendations say exposure to wind turbine noise louder than 45 decibels is associated with adverse health effects.

• Central Otago turbines are allowed to be used during the "frost danger period" until the leaves of the plant are dry and the air temperature has reached 1degC. But there is no definition of the "frost danger period" in the district plan.

•No monitoring of noise from turbines has been done for several years, and no abatement notices have been issued.

• A recent determination from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment means a building consent is no longer required to install a frost fighting turbine.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Cromwell resident David Griffin said he also lived near a frost fan - 108m from his Ripponvale Rd home - and had to install double glazing and extra insulation to help combat noise from the turbine which was measured at more than 60 decibels inside his house.

But those angry and upset about the noise blamed the lack of council regulations for the issue.

"I have been through the same issues with the council but they just don't get it," Griffin said.

"Frost fans are allowed to be installed 100m away from a home but the sound level around 60 decibels is measured at 300m which does not seem right to me ... Both my neighbours have frost fans and it's not their fault, it's the [council] rules that are [at fault]."

Council planning manager David Campbell said frost-fan turbine noise had not been monitored for several years, but noise from turbines near the Hills' house would now be measured, later this week.

For an abatement notice to be issued, noise would need to exceed the noise limits, as measured at 300m, Campbell said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When asked why the noise limits were set at 300m, when turbines could be installed 100m from a rural home, Campbell said the noise could be extrapolated for houses closer than the 300m noise measurement point.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

Premium
The Country

'It was my calling': Inside the Taupō farm taming wild horses

20 Jun 10:00 PM
The Country

'Rusty but running': 1940s bulldozer still going strong

20 Jun 05:00 PM
The Country

One dead, three injured in Central Otago ATV accident

20 Jun 02:29 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Premium
'It was my calling': Inside the Taupō farm taming wild horses

'It was my calling': Inside the Taupō farm taming wild horses

20 Jun 10:00 PM

There are 93 horses still facing an uncertain fate.

'Rusty but running': 1940s bulldozer still going strong

'Rusty but running': 1940s bulldozer still going strong

20 Jun 05:00 PM
 One dead, three injured in Central Otago ATV accident

One dead, three injured in Central Otago ATV accident

20 Jun 02:29 AM
Tonnes of promise: Angus Bull Week set to make millions

Tonnes of promise: Angus Bull Week set to make millions

20 Jun 12:00 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP