Japanese Knotweed: North East

(asked on 30th September 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the strategy to deal with invasive Japanese knotweed in (a) Wansbeck constituency, (b) Northumberland and (c) the North East.


Answered by
George Eustice Portrait
George Eustice
This question was answered on 8th October 2019

There has been no formal assessment of this nature. Japanese knotweed is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), which makes it an offence to allow the plant to escape, or cause it to grow in the wild. Local councils and police have the power to issue Community Protection Notices against individuals or businesses who persistently or continually act in a way that has a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality.

A number of authorities are taking action to control Japanese Knotweed. This includes the Tees River Trust which is involved in managing release sites for the biocontrol of Japanese knotweed.

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