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Join the War on Weeds

Environmental weeds are plants which are not from the local area and can be highly invasive. Many weeds are introduced from abroad or even from other parts of Australia, escaping from gardens and invading our local urban areas and bushland.

Impacts of Weeds

  • Out compete native plants for water, nutrients, light and space, reducing the ability of native plants to survive alongside.
  • Grow and reproduce rapidly due to a lack of natural herbivores and diseases in a new environment (in their native environment these things would control the population naturally).
  • Often weeds are not the right food source for the native animals and insects so affect the food chain and reduce food sources available.
  • Can create a high fuel loading due high abundance of weeds, particularly grassy weeds.

Types of Weeds in Melville

For a full list of weeds view our Natural Area Asset Management Plan.

What Can You Do?

  • Avoid planting weeds in your garden - use native plants instead.
  • Adhere to signage placed indicating weed control works.
  • Join an Environmental Friends Group in your local bushland reserves to remove weeds.

Useful Weed Resources

  • War on Weeds brochure - contains information on some of the more harmful weeds to be found in Melville. Hard copies are available from most City of Melville centres.
  • Grow me instead website - contains information on weeds and alternatives to them for the gardening and nursery industry.
  • Weeds of National Significance list.

    Annual Weed Control Program - Natural Areas and Parks

    Weed Management Practices

    The City of Melville uses a number of techniques and strategies to control weeds for practical and effective long term outcomes, usually in combination, these include:

    • Hand weeding
    • Slashing/brush cutting
    • Herbicide application
    • Injection of tree stumps

    Natural Areas (Bushlands, Wetlands and Foreshore)- Herbicide Control Program

    Together with the assistance of qualified bushland contractors, we undertake herbicide control to manage annual and perennial weeds in the City’s natural area reserves.

    • Signage will be displayed on vehicles and in strategic locations while works are in progress.
    • Our staff and contractors use current best management practices to avoid any off-target damage.
    • We include using dyes with herbicides to identify areas that have been treated.
    • Please note that weekend work is carried out as required.

    Specific herbicides used include: 

    • Fusilade Forte® (Fluazifop-p), which is a grass specific herbicide used to target grass weeds such as Perennial Veldt Grass in bushlands.
    • Round Up® Biactive (Glyphosate) and Metsulfuron, which is used to target bulbous and spring growing weeds in bushlands.

    The methods and chemical concentrations that we employ are considered best practice management and are only applied when required, and done in a safe and responsible manner.

    Natural Areas Spraying Times and Locations

    Week commencing Monday, 11 November 2024, treatments will be carried out in Booragoon Lake, Quenda Wetland, Piney Lakes, Blue Gum, Peter Bosci, Harold Field, George Welby, Reg Bourke, Tom Firth, Bateman, Carawatha, Ken Hurst, Point Walter, Attadale Bushland, Deepwater Point, Blue Wren, Heathcote, and Brockman/Gabbiljee.

    Parks - Winter Weed Broadacre Herbicide Control Program (July to September)

    The City's Parks team, with the assistance of registered spray contractors, undertake selective herbicide control to manage weeds in accordance with the manufacturer's label instructions within the City’s active and passive parks. Government agencies responsible for pesticide legislation include the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), and Safe Work. They collectively approve the use of herbicides in agriculture and the food industry.
     
    Herbicide application within the City of Melville adheres to legal requirements and holds registration with relevant government bodies. Advertising for herbicide application appears in both the Melville Times and on the COM website, with products strictly used according to label instructions (MSDS).
     
    Only certified contractors are engaged for herbicide application within the COM, with stringent monitoring protocols in place for broadacre product application. Additionally, all schools are notified prior to herbicide application commencing.

    During the course of our winter weed control program, the following precautions are taken:

    • Signage is displayed on vehicles and in strategic locations while works are in progress, stating the chemical name being used.
    • Signage will remain in place until any surface to which it was applied is dry.
    • Staff and contractors use current best management practice to avoid any off-target damage.

    Specific herbicide used:

    • Spearhead, a turf specific herbicide targeting medics, bindii, oxalis, cats eye and wild oats.

    Parks Spraying Times and Locations 

    The Herbicide spraying program has been completed for all areas in the City of Melville for 2024.

    Streetscapes - Herbicide Control Program

    The City’s road reserves are treated with a non-selective herbicide; this includes kerb lines, footpaths, medians, roundabouts and buffer zones, during the course of our streetscapes weed control program (throughout the year dependant on weather conditions).

    • Signage is displayed on vehicles while works are in progress, stating the chemical name being used.
    • Staff and contractors use current best management practices to avoid any off-target damage.

    Streetscapes Spraying Times and Locations

    The City’s Road Reserve Weed Spraying Contractor has completed all the scheduled spraying in the City of Melville.

    Glyphosate

    The City of Melville is guided by regulatory advice from the Department of Health (DOH) and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) in relation to the use of glyphosate. The DOH advises that a recent review by the APVMA is that products containing glyphosate are safe to use, when used in accordance with the label instructions. The APVMA review considered the 2015 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) assessment and concluded that the scientific weight of evidence indicates that exposure to glyphosate does not pose a carcinogenic or genotoxic risk to humans.

    Guided by the APVMA and the DOH on the use of glyphosate, the City will continue to use glyphosate for weed control in selected areas in accordance with best practice procedures and in a safe and careful manner. All pesticides used by the City and its contractors are approved by the APVMA  and are applied in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions by staff who are trained in safe and proper application.

    A fact sheet on Glyphosate Safety and Use is available should you wish to refer to it and details regarding the registration of products, registration and assessment of glyphosate are also available from the APVMA.

    Please note that if requested by a resident, the City will avoid spraying adjacent to their property.

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