Council steps up efforts to stem weed

Inaction by landholders and the Department of Agriculture and Food has resulted in an “epidemic” of the cotton bush weed in the Shire of Dardanup, according to deputy shire president Peter Robinson.

Mr Robinson said while many landholders regularly removed cotton bush by hand from their property, many absentee landowners did nothing to control infestations – and he was disappointed with the response from the Department of Agriculture and Food.

“If the department has the power to fine, I would ask why they aren’t fining people – it’s a declared weed,” he said.

A department spokesman confirmed they did have the power to require landholders to manage declared plants but said they used discretion on where that power was exercised.

“Where compliance action will have minimal or no impact on the overall prevalence of a declared plant, the department does not enforce declared plant legislation,” he said.

Dardanup shire environmental project officer Leigh Shinde said although the council had no authority to force people to control cotton bush, it hoped to find a solution to the problem.

Ms Shinde said the council would meet with other councils in the region next month to look at forming a Regional Biosecurity Group to take a different approach to weed control.

She said the mechanics and authority of the group would not be known until after the meeting.

“We are at a point where we have to do something, and we all want to find a solution so this is the step we are taking,” she said.

Last month, department invasive species manager Dennis Rafferty told the South Western Times that a large-scale community coordinated approach offered the best hope for stopping the spread of established weeds such as cotton bush.

The Dardanup Shire Council will hold a community workshop next month to raise awareness about cotton bush and how to identify and control it.

For more information or to register, email leighs@dardanup.wa.gov.au.