Mitchell Shire councillors unanimously supported a request for a report into council’s current weed control practices.
Cr Bill Chisholm presented the notice of motion requesting council officers provide a detailed report on current weed control practices across the shire, identifying areas of most concern, and the level of success achieved.
The report will also include future plans to improve weed control and levels of success residents should expect.
Cr Chisholm said there were significant areas of weeds across the shire but especially in the south.
“This is an important one for everyone across the shire. We’ve been spending money for years trying to keep weeds under control in Mitchell and I think it’s paramount we actually find out how we’re going and what we can do in the future,” he said.
“This is another aspect where it’s really important to have community involvement and I’d like to see how our staff are going to engage with the broader community in tackling these problems.
“Landcare do a lot of good work on trying to reduce weeds, but especially in the south, you have developers and public authorities that actually have a lot of weeds on their patch.
“Hopefully with the report requested we’re going to find out how we’re going to tackle the problem in the future.”
Cr Nathan Clark said he was looking forward to the report’s findings.
“I’m a landowner as well and weed management is very important – it’s up there with pest control,” he said.
“It has been very disappointing to watch the establishment of several gorse farms around Mitchell Shire, which are just an absolutely terrible outcome.
“Private landholders do have a responsibility and I’d really like to see people really step up and take better control and use of their land.”
