£2 million development hit by giant weed

Apr 27 2010 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

A £2 MILLION West Midland housing scheme has finally reached completion – following a four-week operation to rid the site of one of the most invasive plants known to mankind.

A seven feet high 350 sq metre Japanese knotweed proved a massive obstacle to developers laying the foundations for the Redditch housing project being undertaken by Solihull-based Greswolde Construction.

A specialist firm of licensed waste control operators had to be called in to carefully uproot the plant and remove it in tightly sealed containers from the site in South Street, Redditch.

The month-long operation to get rid of the knotweed required a nine-strong specially equipped team of experts stripping out the plant before the area could be declared entirely risk-free.

Greswolde were only able to complete the construction of the site for six homes and a block of 15 apartments once all traces of the giant weed, thought to date back around 100 years, were finally removed.

Greswolde project manager Paul Greaves said: “You have to treat this plant with kid gloves. You have to excavate it and take it away in containers.

“It is very invasive and spreads like wildfire.

“If you get it in your garden, you are in serious trouble. The plant can eat through concrete, it’s one of the most invasive plants known to man.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “Japanese Knotweed is the most invasive species of plant in Britain and it spreads extremely quickly, preventing native vegetation from growing.”

The new homes completed for UK housing provider Sanctuary Group were quickly snapped up, with new occupants moving in during March.