CBD oil firm granted permission to develop Castel vinery
Celebrate Ltd, has applied successfully to erect a building to contain a processing and production area at Douit Vinery, Douit Lane, Castel.
The application states the existing glasshouse will be used to grow plants and the new building will be used as a processing and packing area for distribution.
A separate application to erect a chain-link fence and a gate is still being considered by the planners.
Celebrate Ltd is registered at the same address as The Original Alternative, the St Peter Port shop that sells CBD, or cannabidiol, products that are free of the psychoactive element of the cannabis plant.
Company director Tina Bolding would not comment on which plants could be grown at the site.
‘Putting any horticultural industry back into the island and using the existing greenhouses can only be a good thing,’ she said.
The application states the company wanted high security measures to be included in the development, including lights and security cameras.
Any proposed production at the site would be subject of licensing from Health & Social Care.
Nine letters or emails of representation had been received, including one from a deputy objecting to the application.
Grounds of objection included wanting clarity on the nature of the processing activity, concerns regarding noise pollution, working hours and traffic, and the proximity of the site to residential properties.
In response to concerns, the application made reference to how the development would fit in with the Island Development Plan.
‘The IDP supports horticultural businesses that are considered to make, or be capable of making, a material contribution to the horticultural industry and are likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future by virtue of their suitability for commercial operations,’ it said.
‘The vinery site, although disused, can be brought back into operation for commercial horticulture without requiring the erection of significant areas of new glass.
‘The site remains suitable for commercial horticultural production and is capable of making a material contribution to the horticultural industry for the foreseeable future.’
Last year, an Alderney consortium said they would look to start cultivating hemp in 2019.
Hemp is the same plant species as cannabis but is harvested before its psychoactive qualities develop.
Conditions for the licences are currently out for consultation with Home Affairs and Economic Development.
Last year, Policy & Resources Committee president Deputy Gavin St Pier said there was ‘absolutely nothing’ standing in the way of the hemp growing industry getting started.
‘The door is firmly jammed open,’ he said. ‘It just needs someone to rock up, apply for a licence and get on with it.
‘There are several interested groups who have been engaging with government and others for a while so I am sure it is a question of when, not if.’