Council agrees on next step in exploring Medicinal Cannabis venture
Published on 21 March 2022
Following support from the community, Council has voted unanimously to undertake a feasibility study to understand whether a proposal to establish a medicinal cannabis enterprise would be achievable.
The idea for Council to set up a business to cultivate, produce and manufacture medicinal cannabis was proposed in a Notice of Motion last September as a way of reducing the rates burden on the community.
Mayor, Cr Anthony Tran, said Council recognised the reliance on rates to fund services as an impost on the community and was responding to increased calls from some members of the community to reduce rates. “This is why we began looking outside the box to reduce the burden on our ratepayers”, he said.
A survey to gather feedback, and a public webinar and a forum with the Vietnamese community to provide information and answer questions were undertaken during five months of community engagement, from September 2021 to January 2022.
Of the 600 residents who responded to the survey on Council’s digital engagement platform, Your City Your Voice, 74% answered yes to the question “Would you support Council entering the medicinal cannabis business?”
Health benefits for the greater community, opportunity to reduce rates, local employment opportunities, and the proposal being a progressive venture for the Council, were the key reasons given for support. This was tempered with a call for caution, the need for a robust business case and confidence in an achievable outcome.
“While generally supportive of the idea of Council entering the medicinal cannabis industry, we also understand our community wants to see more detail around what this would look like,” Cr Tran said.
“They have made it clear they want to see a more extensive investigation to answer their questions around things like the operational model and specifically costs that would be involved before they would be willing to see the venture proceed any further.”
A study will be commissioned to determine the feasibility of the project, inclusive of commercial and legal due diligence, along with an assessment of Council’s risk exposure as required under the Local Government Act 2020.
Council will consider whether to proceed further after receiving a report on the study and assessment findings in October.
Maribyrnong News
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