The family of a hop grower killed during a storm say his life’s work remains rooted in the land the family have farmed for generations. 

Peter Lines died on June 28 last year as he and his wife were standing on a riverbank watching their son operate a digger to remove a large tree from a flooded river. 

The tree suddenly came loose and swung towards the pair, hitting them both and fatally injuring Lines. 

A coroner said in a finding released today that Lines died from a severe closed-head injury. 

The family acknowledged the coroner’s findings, which confirmed the death was the result of a tragic accident. 

“We are grateful that the inquiry has now concluded and that the circumstances of Peter’s passing have been formally recognised,” they said in a statement. 

Death stuns close-knit community 

Lines’ death stunned the close-knit hop-growing community and the wider Nelson-Tasman region, it was reported at the time. 

“He was a big character, part of a multi-generational farming family and a significant part of the community,” Tasman Mayor Tim King said. 

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. 

At the time, the region was in the grip of a series of severe weather events, which led to a state of emergency being declared in the Tasman District. 

Coroner Steel said Lines had asked his son, Stacey Lines, to use a digger to clear debris from the flooded river where it ran through the family’s Totara Terrace hop farm near Wakefield, south of Nelson. 

Struck while standing on riverbank 

Lines and his wife, Marlene Lines, were standing on a riverbank watching him work. 

As he lifted a large poplar tree, their son became aware that the rope was also connected to other debris in the river. 

As the tree was lifted, the rope anchoring the base of the tree caused it to whip around sharply, Coroner Steel said. 

Despite attempts to restrict the tree’s movement, he could not control it. 

Marlene Lines said she was “talking and laughing” with her husband on the riverbank when she suddenly saw the tree coming towards them. 

She said they only had time to take a couple of steps backwards before the tree struck her husband in the head, and her in the legs. 

Coroner Steel said Marlene Lines immediately went to her husband’s aid, but he was unresponsive. 

Resuscitation was attempted until emergency services arrived, but Lines could not be revived, Coroner Steel said. 

Lines, a grandfather to eight and great-grandfather to two, died a month short of his 68th birthday. 

He was a fifth‑generation hop grower on land his family had farmed since 1842. 

A love of the land, and hops 

The family said he left school early to pursue the only career he ever wanted, and had “poured his energy and pride into growing hops and contributing generously to the hop‑growing community" and to the wider region. 

One of his earliest memories was playing in the hop rows while his mother hand-picked the hops, he told Michael Donaldson from craft beer magazine Pursuit of Hoppiness. 

Grower co-operative NZ Hops described Lines’ “absolute passion for hops” as “truly contagious for all those who were lucky to visit him on his immaculate farm”. 

“Peter is deeply loved and missed,” the family said. 

They extended their heartfelt thanks to neighbours, first responders, NZ Hops, and the many friends who had supported them since the accident. 

Coroner Steel concluded the inquiry with a hearing on the papers, which meant her findings were made based on written submissions rather than a full inquest. 

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.