Council Struggles to Stop Knotweed Spread

Waterford City Council is under fire for allegedly being powerless to stop private landowners from cutting Japanese knotweed—especially on weekends when staff are scarce. Councillor Eamon Quinlan, spurred by resident complaints from Ferrybank, confronted the issue after an on-call worker arrived too late to intervene. Despite the council’s investment in knotweed control, Quinlan argues they lack the authority or manpower to halt spread in real time, especially when actions are taken by developers or careless homeowners. He warns that even unintentional cutting can turn private problems into public ones, and that the council’s current approach—relying on landowner responsibility—is dangerously inadequate. Quinlan calls for immediate enforcement powers, calling the current system a “pass the parcel” game where no one truly owns the problem until it’s too late. Support the show:Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/ce97c6710b779d24