Council's weed officers can assist residents wanting to undertake weed control by providing information and advice on identification and control techniques. Council staff are unable to undertake weed control on private property.
The Australian Association of Bush Regenerators website has a list of professional contractors who are experienced in weed control and may be able to assist.
Where weeds are causing a health related issue or encroaching from a neighbouring property the quickest and most effective way of dealing with the problem is to foster good relations with your neighbour and seek to resolve the issue together.
If this is not possible, contact Council to discuss the issue with one of Council’s weed officers. Where there is a need an authorised officer can inspect a property to identify the priority weed species present and assess if they pose, or are likely to pose, a biosecurity risk in the situation in which they occur.
Where priority weeds pose a biosecurity risk, Council will liaise with the property owner and advise them on how they can manage the weeds to comply with their general biosecurity duty under the Biosecurity Act 2015.
Where a property owner fails to adequately control priority weed species to meet their general biosecurity duty, Council as the local control authority under the Biosecurity Act 2015, can take further action to enforce control of the weeds.
Where a weed is causing an issue between private properties that is not a biosecurity risk and the issue cannot be resolved with your neighbour then it may be able to be addressed as a civil matter. Contact a Community Justice Centre for advice and mediation assistance.
For further information on weed identification and control techniques, have a look at the useful links below. Should you have any concerns or would like to report weeds on private property, please contact invasivespecies@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au, or alternatively contact Council Customer Service on 1300 434 434 during normal business hours.