Japanese Knotweed - battling in Morley with this invasive pest!

Japanese Knotweed threatens Morley

We often get involved in high profile issues - such as Travellers sites and affordable homes - but a lot of our time is focused on problems local residents face that are not necessarily seen as high profile by others.

This week I have been on a couple of site visits with residents to look at infestation of Japanese Knotweed. This invasive plant - which was imported by the Victorians over a 100 years ago as a plant to brighten up gardens - is an invasive pest and is now having a significant impact on many local residents lives.

The issue with Japanese Knotweed is that it invades everywhere if left unchecked and can damage buildings by seeping into and breaking up foundations. It has been known to break up garden walls and is a very difficult plant to eradicate. Many residents are now finding this plant creeping into their gardens and the costs to them of eradicating this plant are quite substantial.

But perhaps the thing that bothers me the most is the lack of clarity about the legal process to get the owners of infected land to accept their responsability and get the problem sorted. A good example is a present development site in Morley that has an application in to build houses on it. The area is overwhelmed with Japanese Knotweed and this is impacting on local footpaths but is also infecting the gardens of residents who live adjacent to the site. The owner - who is fabulously wealthy and owns large areas of land across Morley - is refusing to accept any responsibility for the problem and is failing to take any action to prevent his weed infested area infecting residents properties with all the expense that brings with it. I've contacted the Environment Agency and the Council to find out the correct legal process to make this landowner accept his responsibilities but it is still unclear how we achieve this.

The issue of Japanese Knotweed is a national one and many have been taken by surprise by its creeping invasion. We need clarity on the legal process for having it cleared and probably some national finance if we are to overcome this problem. The alternative could be more costly as properties infected with the stuff are often unsaleable.

I often talk about another invasive pest blighting Morley - the Labour Party - but Japanese Knotweed is no laughing matter. We need to take this threat seriously and have a clear plan of how we collectively get rid of it.