Leitrim County Council has program in place to deal with Japanese Knotweed

Leitrim County Council has a program in place to deal with Japanese Knotweed on National and Regional roads throughout the county.

Cllr Sean McDermott sought an update on the Council's strategy for eliminating invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed.

In response, he was told that Leitrim County Council Roads Department has programs in place to deal with species such as Japanese Knotweed on National and Regional roads.

"For the National road network, we have a contractor employed who carried out a survey of all roads and treats the affected areas on an annual basis over a four-year period. For regional roads, affected areas were also," noted a written response at the recent Council meeting.

"Identified by a survey approximately four years ago, and these areas are treated each year in autumn using a herbicide by local roads crews."

The Council noted that it only treats affected areas on public property – "we (the local authority) do not enter private property" it was noted.