Top digs to bear fruit for vineyards

New Zealand's fastest-growing wine region - Central Otago - is tackling a shortage of rural workers by building $12 million worth of apartments for pickers to stay in during the harvest.

The accommodation development planned for Cromwell is due to open in November for the beginning of the 2003-2004 viticulture season.

Lake Dunstan Villas has completed plans to build 52 apartments, each with two to six bedrooms, in a bid to alleviate the shortage of rooms for short-term and seasonal workers.

The project will be completed in stages, and once all are complete the complex will be capable of housing more than 300 people.

Company director Peter Notman of Dunedin said large employers who relied on seasonal workers might be interested in taking year-by-year leases in advance.

Central Otago's wine harvest has jumped 25 per cent this year to about 2000 tonnes of grapes, including high-priced pinot noir and pinot gris.

The region's growers have reported good-quality harvests across the wine growing areas in Gibbston, Wanaka, Alexandra and the Cromwell-Bannockburn district.

Last spring, Central Otago seasonal recruitment manager Anne Hanning told the Central Otago District Council that southern fruit and grape growers had barely managed to get their fruit picked in the previous season.

Labour shortages had been affected by the large influx of dairying into Southland, soaking up workers formerly available for seasonal picking.

Ms Hanning said accommodation was such a problem that some Central Otago residents were taking in boarders.

Cromwell firm O'Callaghan and Walker Builders will begin construction in July.

- NZPA