Last year Tamba Park shut and after months of speculation, site owner Jonathan Ruff announced he had obtained a hemp-growing licence. He has recently also obtained permission to erect fencing at the site. Mr Ruff said: ‘Work is still going on and we have obviously had the permission to erect the fences now.
‘Probably within the next couple of months, by the end of quarter one, it should be operational.
‘I don’t have the expertise in this sector. That is why another company is coming in to run it and I am just a shareholder in it. There are other shareholders involved too.’
He added that the hemp farm would ‘bring employment’ and improve diversity within the farming industry.
Some residents living close to the site objected to the fencing planning application and raised concerns about noise pollution and odours following the tourist attraction’s conversion.
Mr Ruff explained that the public was mistaken about hemp and said the site would have less of an impact on residents than when it was a family entertainment park.
He added: ‘A lot of people are misinformed about it. You need the fencing in place because, like any crop, it cannot be contaminated.
‘There will be no noise; it is like growing tomatoes in there. It will be less noisy than when there were children running around and hundreds, sometimes thousands, of cars at the site.
‘And it brings benefits. It is taxable, so it will help the Island and maybe mean other taxes don’t need to rise in the future.’
