Firm launched to tackle Japanese knotweed scourge

JAPANESE knotweed, the invasive plant that grows out of control and destroys man-made and natural structures in its path, has been estimated to cost the British economy at least £166m per year.

But a Wilmslow-based group of specialists estimates that the threat level is in fact much higher, and has launched a new company to help the UK get it under control.

National Knotweed Survey was launched in response to increasing reports of property transactions being lost as a result of the presence of the aggressive weed.

Founder and managing director Will Sillar, a data expert who has worked with some of the biggest names in banking, is using his expertise to tackle the issue.

He said: “Mortgage lenders, estate agents, solicitors, insurers and indeed anybody buying or selling a property, are often in the dark with regard to the knotweed problem.

“Questions of how to spot it, what to do, and whose responsibility it is, have led to hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of business falling through every year.

“The organisation has been years in the making and we have brought together a team of experts to create the UK’s definitive central resource on knotweed, with two main objectives: to define a universally recognised surveying report template, and more ambitiously, to create a comprehensive database of where the plant is or might be, which can be included as part of every homebuyer’s searches and surveys.”

National Knotweed Survey was founded Sillar alongside property investor Tim Conniff, process and technology expert Richard Morrison, and knotweed management experts David Layland and Richard Podmore.

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia Japonica) was brought to the UK in Victorian times for ornamental purposes.

However, it proved to be disruptive and destructive with the ability to grow through tarmac, concrete and structural work, as well as choking other plant growth and causing erosion to riverbanks leading to flooding.

Less than 0.7g of rhizome (subterranean stem) is needed for a new plant to grow and become an infestation. This is the size of one human fingernail.

It can grow up to 40mm per day during peak times, and there is estimated to be at least one infestation of the plant in every 10 km2 in the UK. It can take up to two years for dead Japanese knotweed stalks and stems to completely decompose.

The Government classifies Japanese knotweed as a non-native invasive species and in October 2014 brought in legislation to allow councils and police to order someone to control or prevent the growth of Japanese knotweed through a community protection notice.

The legislation made the breaching of the notice a criminal offence, which could lead to a £2,500 individual fine rising to £20,000 for organisations.