A Derwent Valley deputy mayor candidate says residents living near Tasmanian Botanics’ Pontville medicinal cannabis facility are fed up with a persistent odour affecting their daily lives.
Phillip Bigg says they are being passed between the local council and the state’s environmental regulator, with neither taking responsibility.
Bigg has taken up the issue on behalf of residents outside his own municipality.
He said about a dozen people had contacted him directly, with more raising concerns on social media.
“The number’s growing pretty much every day since I’ve been raising this issue on behalf of some of the residents immediately affected,” he told Pulse.
Bigg said the smell from the Rifle Range Road business was “pretty constant” but strongest in the early morning.
He attributed that to the facility’s ventilation systems starting up for the day.
He said he had visited the facility and spoken with its chief executive about possible fixes, including carbon filtration.
“It basically just takes out any odours or impurities that passes through it. So it basically scrubs the air mostly clean and they’re quite effective and they’re used internationally,” he said.
Bigg said residents were worn down by being bounced between authorities.
“People are fed up of going to the council and the council says, ‘Take it up with the EPA,’ then the EPA says, ‘Take it up with the council,'” he said.
Brighton Council mayor Leigh Gray rejected that, saying the council was responsible for dealing with complaints.
“Under our obligations under EMPCA [Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act], we are a first port of call for this particular industry,” he said.
“Anyone can make a complaint and we will go through the process with them to ensure that there is an outcome that everyone is satisfied with.”
Gray said the council had received about three formal complaints in the past four months, despite a much larger volume of comments on social media.
He said Bigg had not contacted him or, as far as he was aware, anyone else at the council.
The council has not carried out its own odour assessment.
Gray said complainants had instead been asked to keep odour diaries recording when the smell was noticeable.
He said the state government had commissioned an odour analysis as part of a Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) appeal.
The appeal relates to the planning permit for the youth justice facility approved next door, which is set to replace the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
“From our understanding, it has indicated that as far as that assessment is concerned, there is no great issue,” he said.
The council has not seen that report.
Gray said the long-term solution was for the state government to bring medicinal cannabis production under the EPA’s direct oversight by adding it to Schedule 2 of the EMPCA.
“… The EPA then could put some rules and regulations in place and much easier for the state government and the EPA to regulate this particular industry in the future,” he said.
Under the act, level one activities are administered by local councils.
Level two activities listed in Schedule 2 are regulated by the EPA, which can impose conditions through planning permits or environment protection notices.
Medicinal cannabis cultivation is not currently listed.
The EPA confirmed they received 13 odour complaints regarding Tasmanian Botanics between 04/01/24 and 18/08/26. All related to odour issues and all were appropriately referred to Brighton Council as the site regulator.
They confirmed that Brighton Council is the relevant regulator of the Tasmanian Botanics facility and has powers under the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPCA) to address odour issues, including enforcement action.
Tasmanian Botanics have been contacted for comment.
