I&E department under fire for cannabis farm complaints

Government officers put the interests of the operators of a cannabis farm over those of its neighbours, the States' Complaints Panel has concluded.

The panel has upheld a complaint against the Infrastructure and Environment department.

It says the department's handling of grievances raised by people living near Northern Leaf in St Lawrence was unacceptable, that action was too slow and that 'Northern Leaf’s interests had been prioritised to the detriment of its neighbours'.

Additionally, it criticised the use of a 'sniff test' to assess odour levels, saying the 'threshold was unjust as it placed an unreasonable burden of proof on complainants'.

"It had been unreasonable of the Department to have taken so long to take action in respect of odours emanating from the site, given the available evidence." - States of Jersey Complaints Panel.

Chair of the Board Geoffrey Crill said:

"The board considers it unacceptable that the department simply extended the monitoring of odours in order to meet a threshold that had already been acknowledged as unworkable."

The board also found that the existing Nuisances Law, covering noise and odours, was weak and did not provide clear thresholds to measure complaints.

Environment and Infrastructure does not accept the panel's findings.

Chief Officer Andy Scate (pictured above) completely refutes the suggestion his department acted contrary to the law or behaved unjustly.

"Our responsibility is to uphold Jersey’s regulatory framework fairly and impartially. That means acting in the interests of all parties, residents, businesses and the wider community.

"We maintain the integrity of the planning & regulatory system, this requires striking a careful balance between the rights of individuals and the legal rights of businesses to operate.

"In the case of Northern Leaf, the Department has issued a number of Enforcement and Noise Abatement Notices and we have taken clear regulatory action in response to concerns raised.

He says he stands by his officers' actions, describing this as a complex case that has lasted four years and taken more than a thousand hours of the department's time.

"We do not accept the view that more could or should have been done. Our team has acted at all times with diligence, professionalism and within the scope of legislation."

Mr Scate says he will report to the States Assembly within 12 weeks, 'outlining our response in full and correcting multiple factual inaccuracies from the complaints board.'