Battle against Japanese knotweed suffers a setback in Ardattin

A BATTLE against the spread of Japanese knotweed by the council in the village of Ardattin has suffered a serious setback after it was discovered that trees were planted in the infected area.

Two years ago, Carlow Co Council was to install a path from Temple View housing estate into the village, but work was abruptly stopped when the highly invasive and destructive Japanese knotweed was discovered.

Pat Harrington, senior executive engineer, who oversaw the project, stopped work on the path immediately and began a three-year-long process of treating and destroying the weed. Japanese knotweed is an invasive species that grows rapidly and easily and is capable of destroying houses and other buildings.

It usually takes three years to control and destroy the plant, but, unfortunately, two years into the battle against it in Ardattin someone rotovated the infected area and planted some trees only weeks ago.

Mr Harrington updated local councillors about the situation at the last meeting of Tullow Municipal District, telling them that the council will have to start the three-year process from scratch.

“It will take three years to complete this work. There’s no ambiguity here – there’s a danger of it being spread,” warned Mr Harrington. “The area has been rotovated and planted, so the danger is that the rhizomes are on the rotovator and that it will be spread. Protocol must be followed. If you have Japanese knotweed in your garden, you won’t be able to sell your house. We must ensure that the council is not at fault, so we will begin the process again.”