Tied up in knots by a superweed (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Tied up in knots by a superweed

Terry King with the Japanese knotweed Ref: 99453-18MULTI-MILLION pound plans for the Front Garden could be thrown into turmoil by a superweed.

The Advertiser has discovered Japanese knotweed the UK's most invasive plant growing on the site.

And plant experts say developers face a nightmare eradicating it.

Flourishing in any soil, the weed grows relentlessly and can penetrate Tarmac and even concrete with roots that can spread seven metres wide and three metres deep.

Bryant Homes wants to build 4,500 houses on the 37-hectare site between Old Town and the M4 motorway.

Work on the ambitious project which will cost up to £1bn to complete could start in May.

But first developers will have to deal with the monster weed.

An infestation reduces land value and removing it is expensive and time consuming.

Contaminated soil is classed as controlled waste and must be buried at least 10 metres deep on site or taken away by a licenced operator to a designated landfill site.

The Advertiser found the plant thriving next to a path often used by walkers and horse-riders just off Westlecot Road, Old Town.

We took a sample to plant expert Will Slater, who positively identified it.

Mr Salter, who is also assistant manager of Manor Garden Centre, in Cheney Manor, told developers to expect the worst.

"This plant was brought to the UK by the Victorians, who thought it was fantastic at first," he said.

"Unfortunately they had no idea just how invasive this plant is.

"I would not be at all surprised if the whole Front Garden site is covered with Japanese knotweed because it spreads so easily.

"There are excellent herbicides on the market but it may be that they have to get rid of all the contaminated soil that will cost an awful lot of money."

Terry King, chairman of the Front Garden Action Group, which has been fighting the development, said discovery of the weed compounds his view that the area should not be built on.

"If Japanese knotweed is widespread on this site there will be significant problems," he said.

"For eight or nine years we have said this site is not suitable because of the flora and fauna this proves that we are right.

"Sadly, if plans are finally approved next spring, it will be the poor residents who will suffer when their nice new drives are pushed up by this nasty weed."

Alan Haywood, spokesman for Swindon Civic Trust also against plans for the Front Garden was delighted by the find.

He said: "Nature has its way of getting revenge and this is it. This is very good news from our point of view and very bad news for the developers."

Bryant Homes was unavailable for comment.

The council confirmed that the knotweed has been discovered on private land and are looking into who should be notified.

"The discovery of this weed just compounds our view that this land should not be built on.

"The site is on a flood plain, close to a railway and motorway who would want to live there?"

Blame the Victorians

Japanese Knotweed was first introduced to the UK in the early 19th century.

The Victorians brought the plant over from Japan. They thought it was beautiful but soon got fed up when it started overtaking their gardens. They dug it up, and threw it out, spreading it into the wild.

Its Latin name is now Fallopia japonica but it was once called Polygonum cuspidatum.

One small shoot, the size of a fingernail, is enough to start a new colony. The only way to control Knotweed is to either dig it up, which is hard work, or through the use of pesticides. The main hope in tackling the menace weed is to import bugs over from Japan.

Costly pest

JAPANESE knotweed has already proved its might delaying building work across the UK.

A £1.5m road near Fareham in Hampshire was delayed for three years. The county council decided to poison it at a cost of £5,000 rather than spend £250,000 removing it.

And it was recently revealed that the weed is growing on the 2012 Olympic site in east London.

It is feared the total cost of dealing with the problem could spiral into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Such is the fear concerning the spread of Japanese knotweed that anyone caught planting or dumping the weed faces a two-year prison sentence and a heavy fine under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Kevin Shoesmith