Plans approved for first on-Island medicinal cannabis cultivation facility

Grow Lab Organics gets green light for Ronaldsway site

Plans have been approved for a medicinal cannabis cultivation facility - the first of its kind on the Isle of Man.

Grow Lab Organics is to build its headquarters and production site on the Ronaldsway Business Park.

The company is the first to be offered a conditional medicinal licence for export on the Island since regulations were introduced in 2021.

At the meeting of the Planning Committee this morning the plans - which include a new electricity substation, landscaping, access and parking with associated infrastructure - were approved unanimously.

Concerns were raised by one objector, however, about the sustainability of the site, and a committee member described the facility as a 'drain' due to its part-reliance on the national grid. 

Three megawatts of electricity will be required to run the facility, and as well as the power generated from the on-site substation the company will be importing electricity via the interconnector. 

The chair of the Climate Change Transformation Board, and DEFA Minister, Clare Barber recently admitted, in a Tynwald Question for Written Answer, that it's 'difficult to see' how cultivation of medicinal cannabis on the Isle of Man can be balanced against government's climate goals.

Responding to the application, the Climate Change Transformation Team says the applicant has provided further information including materials details, construction phase emissions, and commitment to the Guaranteed Green Energy Tariff, and that composting and potential use of green waste for fuel generation, and it is 'satisfied that our queries have been addressed'.

Representatives from Grow Lab Organics were questioned about the lack of solar panels included in the plans, despite the fact the roof of the production site is of a 'sawtooth design' in order to optimise the use of photovoltaics.

Co-Founder, Charlie Price, says there are plans to install solar panels in the future.

The development is expected to create upwards of 60 jobs, 90 percent of which, it's said, will be for Isle of Man residents.

The company told Manx Radio it hopes to have the facility up and running within a year.