Knotweed And The Law
You would be breaking the law if you:
● Caused the Japanese knotweed on your property to spread into the wild. This would contravene the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended).
This could include allowing the plant to spread from your property into the neighbouring land by its rhizomes extending underground into the adjacent land. It is accepted that the distance Japanese Knotweed can spread underground is a maximum of 7m.
● Dug up or cut down and then removed the plant from your property. In so doing, the material becomes classed as a waste and would need to be taken to a licensed landfill site with the facilities to deal with it, this can be expensive! If you disposed of it elsewhere, you would have contravened the
Environmental Protection Act 1990.
When growing adjacent to built structures such as walls and buildings, the rhizome can damage structures exploiting cracks and weaknesses as the rhizome system expands. As with other plants, the pressure exerted by the expanding rhizome (or roots) can split structures along weak
For more information regarding Japanese knotweed contact us on 01782 243158.