Japanese Knotweed

suzuki1_2

Has anyone had any experience of a Species Control Agreement regarding Japanese knotweed? My house borders a new housing development which has a Factor. The Factor sent me a letter this morning telling me that from time to time that Japanese Knotweed encroaches on to the land owned by the housing development that they manage and they warned me about on the spot penalties and criminal prosecution and fines up to £2,500. Now there was Japanese Knotweed right on the boundary (where the boundary is, is disputable as there are numerous old wooden fences and the builder just built a new one in front of the one that was there!) but we applied weedkiller to it 2 years ago. From what I can see the housing development factor has done the same last year, possibly or more like definitely within my boundaries without permission. At this moment in time there are no shoots of JK and in fact it is scorched earth, all brown and lifeless. So why do they want a Species Control Agreement when there is no JK there to be seen at this moment in time? They threaten a Species Control Order if we fail to agree a Species Control Agreement. Obviously no one knows why we have received this letter, but I have tried twice to phone them and they tell me that the person is in a meeting or on the phone - they also tell me that a senior manager is dealing with this but from what I can see on the internet this is a small firm? I am taking all reasonable steps to keep an eye on japanese knotweed but as I said there is nothing to be seen at the moment.

elsien

This time of year it's only just starting to show above ground. You possibly need to give it a bit longer before making a definitive statement that it's been dealt with effectively.

DaftyDuck

It is early for Japanese Knotweed to be up much - I have it on my land and, in most places, it's only just emerging. Some bits are up to six inches high, but most is less than an inch. You will not have got rid of it with a single dose of weedkiller - or, if you have, you've been exceedingly lucky.

However, it is controllable and eradicable without professional intervention. If you can control and prevent any spread from your land to theirs, you should be fine.

Mine is definitely going, after a year of careful treatment, but I reckon it will take three years to rid myself of it, and then a good few years to be sure it's gone.

suzuki1_2

Thanks Daftyduck. The Factor for the new housing development that was built on a field beside me has been into my land without permission. It is obvious as there is just hard compact soil there now about a foot or 2 inside the wire fence. They have not asked me to do that but just did it. I have not really being seeing what they were up to as all this is behind my large trees but apparently still within my boundary. We went out 2 years ago and used roundup stump killer as recommended by the royal horticultural society. This really destroyed the plants but they did come up slightly the year after that and we sprayed them again. Last year the Factor must have sent someone in as the area has been cleared and it was not us! I am not complaining as we dont see it anyway and it has helped. So the area has been blitzed by us and I would imagine a professional weed killing formula by them as well. What I dont understand is the letter from the Factor now wanting a species control agreement when there is nothing there and there was nothing there last year when I looked either. They are behaving as if they have some powers and according to the internet only 'relevant bodies' can issue species control agreements. I feel they are trying to bully and intimidate me with the letter mentioning criminal prosecution, on the spot fines, as well as fines up to £2,500 and a species control ORDER being issued. I feel that as long as the boundary between them and me has no japanese knotweed there is nothing they can do but they seem to think otherwise. Dont get me wrong any sign of the weed and I blast it no matter where it is.

Apodemus

Contact your local authority. Sounds to me like the factor is trying to bully and intimidate. At best the factor could attempt to take a civil case against you, but you can prove that you are trying your best to control and permit control of the problem. Unless you are fly-tipping the jk or soil onto their land, I can't see how there could be anything criminal in this, so no risk of any fines, on the spot or otherwise.

glasgowdan

Either ignore them or reply stating any access must be agreed 7 days in advance. Ignore comments about the order and fines etc

I_have_spoken

The home owners are likely panicking that their properties become unsalable if JK is encroaching and mortgage lenders won't touch the place.

Instead of going off on one, why not say you're happy to sign an Agreement where costs of control/eradication are born by the Factor?

suzuki1_2

Thanks everyone. The land behind my house is owned by the housing development and has been turned into a large grass area for a playground. There are honestly no houses there to be affected. I contacted Scottish Natural Heritage and they told me that the Factor cannot fine me, and the law they mentioned does not apply to Scotland. SNH have written to the Factor to inform them of the legislation and that they dont get involved in neighbour disputes and only they can issue Species Control Agreements and Orders not any Factor. They were also not happy with the intimidating tone of the letter I was sent as it misrepresented the legislation to me. Yes, I do feel bullied by the words used by the Factor but it seems they got their information wrong. I have had no further dealings with the Factor as the person dealing with it is never there when I phone. However I have told them that all communication is to now be in writing. I will continue to monitor and deal with any knotweed that does come back. Thanks for your help.

daveyjp

The knotweed I see every week is now 4-5 feet high - at Easter it wasn't visible - so if anything is going to grow you should be seeing it by now.

Apodemus

daveyjp wrote: »

The knotweed I see every week is now 4-5 feet high - at Easter it wasn't visible - so if anything is going to grow you should be seeing it by now.

Probably... but the OP mentions SNH so this particular patch will be i Scotland and the JK around me is only just through the ground.

glasgowdan

I'm in central Scotland and the jkw is a few ft high and rife