The Swansea solution

In 1997 the council in Swansea launched a knotweed action plan that was based around these four main objectives:

• A coordinated approach to dealing with the problem
• Identify and prioritise treatment of knotweed
• Prevent spread into unaffected areas
• Raise awareness

Surveys were undertaken to ascertain the scale of the spread of the plant. The 1992 urban survey showed 48ha (120 acres) of land with knotweed, while the 1998 urban survey showed 61ha (152 acres) of land with knotweed. This represents an increase of 13ha (32.5 acres) or 27 per cent over the 6 years between the two surveys. The 1998
county wide survey revealed a 100ha (250 acres) of land with knotweed throughout the authority area.

The results of the surveys have been inputted into the council’s GIS system so they are available for staff to view. They are very useful for identifying sites for treatment, spread between the two surveys and for checking against planning applications especially when used in conjunction with aerial photos.{mosimage}

Deciding what sites to treat is helped by using a checklist to prioritise sites. Funding in the past has come from a variety of sources including internal departments, private landowners such as churches, WDA, CCW and other organisations such as the police.

Selected sites are surveyed in detail and a tender process followed so a contract can be awarded. Treatment is over three years with larger sites needed to be cut back first for safety reasons (it's difficult to fight your way through last year's dead stems with a knapsack sprayer on your back). Sites range from a few plants to over 20,000 sq m.

Knotweed is also controlled as part of the planning process when a planning condition is added to a planning application where there is knotweed present on the site. In such cases the developer is responsible for control of knotweed.

Awareness is important so people know what they can and just as importantly what they can't do. A good example here is not letting knotweed be taken to the local amenity sites with other green waste for composting.

The future looks promising with natural control high on the agenda and tougher legislation planned as part of the
Government's Non-native Species Coordinating Mechanism.

There are of course other alien nonnative species (both flora and fauna) causing problems throughout the UK with more being discovered all the time. This year the first Welsh record of water primrose (ludwigia grandiflora) was discovered in a pond near Swansea. However swift action from the council in conjunction with the Environment Agency has dealt with this outbreak.