The QPR Blog

The control of noxious weeds is sometimes a prickly issue, if you’ll pardon the pun, but it’s very much that time of the year so I thought it might be useful to provide a little background to the management of noxious weeds.

Council’s weed management activities are directed by the NSW Invasive Species Plan, which is underpinned by a raft of legislation (the Plan lists 29 individual Acts) relating to specific aspects of various animal and plant species and habitats. The most significant of these in the present context is the Noxious Weeds Act 1993.

This legislation requires all landholders in certain areas to control what are referred to as noxious weeds. To be declared noxious, a number of criteria must be met:

• a weed must have potential to cause harm to people,
• a weed must be able to be controlled by reasonable means,
• a weed must have the potential to spread within an area and to other areas, and
• the control of a weed must provide a benefit to the community over and above the cost of implementing the control program.

There are, therefore, many weeds that, although ‘undesirable’, do not meet the criteria for declaration and while invasive are not therefore considered noxious or subject to control under the Act.

Not even all noxious weeds, however, are created equal. Individual species are classified, for control purposes, according to the severity of impact. The five control classes are as follows.

Class 1 (State Prohibited) and Class 2 (Regionally Prohibited) noxious weeds must be eradicated from the land and the land must be kept free of the plant. The intent is to keep NSW, or some part of the state free of weeds that have proven to be very invasive elsewhere. Class 1 and 2 weeds are notifiable weeds—if you suspect their occurrence on your land you must inform your local Council weed control staff.

Class 3 (Regionally Controlled) noxious weeds must be fully and continuously suppressed and destroyed in the regions in which they are so listed, with the purpose of reducing the area of infestation and the negative impact of infestations in those regions.

Class 4 (Locally Controlled) noxious weeds are such that the growth of the plant must be managed in a manner that reduces its numbers, spread and incidence and continuously inhibits its reproduction. The objective here is to minimise the negative impact of these weeds. Class 4 weeds are generally those that are already well established in the region in which they are so listed.

Class 5 (Restricted Plants) noxious weeds are plants that are likely, by their sale or the sale of their seeds or movement within the State or an area of the State, to spread in the State or outside the State. There are no requirements to control existing Class 5 plants, although a range of restrictions on their sale and movement exists.

All Class 1, 2 and 5 weeds are prohibited from sale in NSW. Some Class 3 and 4 weeds are also prohibited from sale in NSW.

The NSW WeedWise website provides a range of useful information on weed management. By searching the ‘Palerang’ area you will find all the weeds that are declared noxious in our local area and the legal control requirements for each.

For help using chemicals to control weeds, be sure to check out the Noxious and environmental weed control handbook, which includes lists of chemicals that are registered for use on each noxious weed species.

On a related matter, Council’s Pesticide Use Notification Plan has recently been updated. Following a recommendation from the NSW EPA, all chemical use on roadsides and rural community land is now being notified via Council’s website, initially just a few months in advance but with the intention to provide more frequent updates as the system develops. While the exhibition phase is complete and the Plan has been adopted, Council welcomes any feedback residents may have relating to its implementation (Email: records@palerang.nsw.gov.au).

Finally, while many people only meet Council’s weeds officers during inspections, they are available for consultation, free of charge, to assist residents with the identification and control of invasive species—just call Council (6238 8111) during business hours to arrange a suitable time.