Death stuns close-knit communityLines’ death stunned the close-knit hop-growing community and the wider Nelson-Tasman region, it was reported at the time. Wakefield hop grower Peter Lines was killed last June, a month before his 68th birthday. The fifth-generation hop grower was a grandfather to eight and great-grandfather to two. Coroner Amelia Steel said the fatality happened during efforts to mitigate the impact of debris in the rising Wai-iti River next to the Lines’ hop farm. He was a fifth‑generation hop grower on land his family had farmed since 1842.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 29, 2026 17:51 UTC