Japanese Knotweed - Next steps

Dawn1966

I had a survey done and bought my house in June this year, I've yet to move in.

My Homebuyers report stated:
'We saw no sign of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed in either the
garden or on adjoining land. Japanese Knotweed is, however, known to exist in
the area and may become a problem in the future. These plants are not always
detectable because in the dormant season they may not be physically present or
difficult to distinguish from other dormant vegetation. In the growing season they
can grow rapidly and, therefore, may not be visible above ground on one day, but
visible shortly afterwards the following day/week.'

This week I climbed onto the wall at the back to look over my fence at the adjoining agricultural land, and there it was blowing in the breeze, in full flower right at the back of my shed!!

It would have been fully growing when the survey was done, and if the surveyor didn't look over the fence (which would have meant using a step ladder or climbing the small wall) how could he state
'We saw no sign of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed in either the
garden or on adjoining land'

I wrote to the environment agency and they sent me this reply...
[FONT=&quot]It's down to landowners to control any Japanese knotweed on their land, but they don't have to remove it as the natural growth and spread is not illegal. However, allowing the Japanese knotweed to spread onto land outside of the ownership or control of the landowner can be seen as an offence. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If your neighbour is knowingly allowing the plant to spread, this can be reported to the local Wildlife liaison officer at the local police station.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Also causing Japanese knotweed to spread by removing or disposing of it incorrectly would be illegal.
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 lists the plant as a 'controlled waste' and it must be disposed of properly.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Police and Local Authorities may take enforcement action if a landowner causes or allows Japanese Knotweed to spread to land outside their boundaries.'[/FONT]

My neighbour said he had noticed that the owner of the land had tried to clear patches in the field by cutting it down, digging out the roots and burning it.

I don't know who owns the land but no doubt will be able to find out.

So my question is, what are the next steps I should take?
Many thanks in advance.

jonnygee2

So my question is, what are the next steps I should take?

It's still far from your house. You can use RHS guidance to remove the knotweed with weedkiller, or call in contractors, if you see any in your garden.

For the neighbouring land, well, it's not on your land so nothing you can do other than reporting any further botched attempt to remove it by the landowner. Not that I'd expect the police or council to do much more than send a letter.

It is a pain, but well managed it shouldn't be a huge problem.

'We saw no sign of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed in either the
garden or on adjoining land'

They would have seen some of the adjoining land (e.g. neighbours gardens?). But they can't be expected to survey areas they don't have access to.

elsien

I've tried reporting to the council and the only time they get involved is either when it's on their own land, or it's spreading and being a nuisance.
If it's just sitting there on private land and not really impacting on anyone else, they don't want to know.
If you can find out who it belongs to quickly, this is a really good time for treating it because as it dies back for the winter it takes the chemicals down to the roots with it. You or them get a load of the strongest glyphosate you can find, inject it into the stems or spray it. That should knock it back , then repeat next year towards the end of the season.

Marvel1

I have some growing this year in my garden, hopefully use this tomorrow:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roundup-Tree-Stump-Weedkiller-250ml/dp/B01BY4FFPK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537053081&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Roundup+Tree+Stump+Weedkiller+250ml&dpPl=1&dpID=51xjwAnQwZL&ref=plSrch

Also you will need a spray bottle, this is not a spray. I have to add 20ml of the stuff to 1 litre of water.

Davesnave

cjdavies wrote: »

Also you will need a spray bottle, this is not a spray. I have to add 20ml of the stuff to 1 litre of water.

It's not on the OP's land, so treatment isn't an option for her at this point.


I gave advice when the OP posted elsewhere, and that still stands.


If treatment becomes an option, ordinary 360g/l glyphosate that is not pre-mixed is adequate.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd be starting by finding out whose land it is personally. Two methods:

- The official one - of asking the Land Registry
- The unofficial one - of asking around in places like local pubs/corner shops/etc.

You can't "ask" the land-owner to deal with it (properly) until you know who the land-owner is.

daveyjp

As this years above ground growth is now dying off there's not a lot you can do until next April/May when you can see if it has spread to your land.

Use the time to find the owner and advise them of their responsibilities. They may not be aware or know how to deal with it.

Dawn1966

Thank you everyone.
I am going to try finding the owner and politely requesting them to help me deal with it so that it doesn't get onto my land in the first place (fingers crossed).
It's still in full flower and I believe that it can still be treated as the flowers/leaves die off they will take the glysophate back to the rhizome so I might do that on the stuff I can get to at the back of my shed.
(Thanks for the details CJDavies) You can also inject the rhizome which I understand is the preferred method.

Dawn1966

Oh and also I may have a chat with the Wildlife Liaison Officer (if there is such a person at my local police station) and to the local council just so that my complaint is registered somewhere, just in case I and my neighbours end up having to take legal action.

Davesnave

Dawn1966 wrote: »

It's still in full flower and I believe that it can still be treated as the flowers/leaves die off they will take the glysophate back to the rhizome so I might do that on the stuff I can get to at the back of my shed.
(Thanks for the details CJDavies) You can also inject the rhizome which I understand is the preferred method.

Injection is probably best at this point in the year, but that involves going onto the land, which would be OK if you can find the owner and gain permission first.

Dawn1966

It's been a while but I am still fighting the results of a survey I had done on my house in 2018.
I took it to the Property Ombudsman in the end and have just had a response, TPO have said we now have some time to further produce evidence, well I have already given all I can so won't be doing that - so now wondering if it's worth finally taking it to a solicitor (it would have to be a no win no fee type) opinions/advice very welcome please, especially if anyone knows of a solicitor.

This was the result of the 3 month full review of the case...

OMBUDSMAN’S FINDINGS
The complaint is that the Surveyor missed the presence of Japanese Knotweed (JKW) on the adjoining land to the Property.
The Complainants say that the Report stated that there was no sign of JKW on the adjoining land to the Property. The Complainants have sought clarification as to whether the Surveyor looked over the fence to the rear of the Property in order to make such a statement and the Complainants contend that JKW would have been visible.

The Surveyor's head office state in their submission to this Office that they believe the Surveyor discharged his duty of care within the scope of inspection set out in Report and they consider that, “even if it were found that there was a duty to seek out any vantage point to search specifically for Japanese Knotweed (which we say is plainly wrong) nothing

identifiable would have been visible”.

Within H2 of the Report, the Surveyor states:
“We saw no sign of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed in either the garden or on adjoining land. Japanese Knotweed is, however, known to exist in the area and may become a problem in the future. These plants are not always detectible because in the dormant season they may not be physically present or difficult to distinguish from other dormant vegetation. In the growing season they can grow rapidly and, therefore, may not be visible above ground on one day, but visible shortly afterwards the following day/week.”

Prior to the referral of the complaint to this Office, there has been correspondence between the parties within which arguments and counter-arguments have been exchanged including, but not limited to, whether the Surveyor looked over the fence at

the Property, whether the Surveyor looked over the fence from a certain vantage point within the garden, whether the Surveyor used any equipment to look over the fence.

I have considered all arguments presented by both parties and I acknowledge the views expressed. However, I take the view that the key evidence in this case is the content of the Report prepared by the Surveyor. As has already been highlighted, that Report

states that the Surveyor saw no sign of JKW in either the garden or on adjoining land.

Based on that contemporaneous evidence, I consider it reasonable to conclude that the Surveyor was able to view the adjoining land in order to enable him to make such a statement. If there were limitations on the Surveyor’s ability to make such a statement I would have expected this to have been referred to within the Report, as has been done in other places; no such limitations have been recorded by the Surveyor.

This, therefore, leads me to the question of what was or was not visible to the Surveyor at the time. The Surveyor has not provided any further evidence, over and above the Report. I must highlight that I do not have the power to cross-examine witnesses, such as a court has, which is what I consider is required in this case to establish further facts or to question the Surveyor and content of the Report further. As this is outside the scope of my role, I am unable to explore the question of what should or should not have been seen by the Surveyor on the adjoining land to the Property. Accordingly, I am unable to make a determination that the parties are seeking.

CONCLUSION AND PROPOSED DECISION
As explained within my findings, I do not have the power to cross examine witnesses which is what I consider is required in this case in order to establish what was or was not seen by the Surveyor at the time of his inspection and, ultimately, what led the Surveyor to record in the Report that there was no sign of JKW in the garden or on the adjoining land.
I, therefore, cannot come to a judgment on this complaint.

Just as an end note, I did get a Knotweed specialist in who produced a site visit report and stated he didn't know how it could be missed, and that there is over 20 years worth of growth there.