A WITCHCLIFFE couple say spray drift from a nearby vineyard is damaging their children’s health.

Gary Rogers and Georgina Wilkinson want answers for the elevated copper levels in their son’s blood system.

Recent tests have confirmed six-year-old Alby Rogers’ copper levels are off the scale, and his parents are now concerned their four-year-old daughter is showing the same symptoms.

“Copper readings taken from hair analysis showed Alby has the third highest levels in Margaret River,” Mr Rogers said.

This affects Alby’s concentration; he suffers from insomnia and struggles to keep up at school, in fact the tests were undertaken on the suggestion of his teachers.

While it has yet to be proved, Mr Rogers is convinced the answer lies in the drift from copper sulphate sprays used at Foxcliffe vineyard, just metres across the road from their home.

Ironically the couple supported Foxcliffe owners Cape Mentelle in an application to establish an organic vineyard alongside the rural hamlet in 1997.

However, things went awry when organic principals were ditched in favour of standard horticultural methods.

According to Mr Rogers, the close proximity of the village tip precluded organic certification.

Inadequate buffer zones do nothing to stop sprays drifting across the road, settling on roofs and ultimately ending up in rainwater tanks.

Mr Rogers has video evidence of enormous Cape Mentelle spray drifts hanging over Witchcliffe, and last week he met with shire officials to discuss the problem, but came away frustrated.

“We are wearing the full brunt of what’s going on, but we don’t have a leg to stand on – if it was damaging frogs council could do something about it, but not when it’s our kids,” he said.

And despite orginal assurances vineyard workers would not operate machinery between 8am and 5pm, there is no legal requirement to stick to this timeframe.

“If there is no problem with these chemicals why are workers wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatus?” Mr Rogers asked.

Now Cape Mentelle management intends to sell the Foxcliffe vineyard as a non-organic operation.

Last week a statutory declaration attesting to the use of highly toxic chemicals in the Foxcliffe spraying regime was tabled at the Witchcliffe Progress Association meeting.

“They are just going to walk away and leave us to deal with the consequences,” Mr Rogers said.

“If this goes ahead we will have no choice but to move, we can’t just sit back and allow our children to go on absorbing toxic sprays.”

The Augusta-Margaret River Shire Council has yet to decide on the Foxcliffe change of status request.