Mission council has agreed to spend $6,000 on researching how best to control knotweed on private properties.
The municipality had set aside $20,000 for invasive plant control this year. Private contractor Spectrum Resource Group dealt with 20 hogweed sites and 123 knotweed sites, all on public property. This was done in late June.
Knotweed can spread easily and previous routine roadside maintenance is suspected as one of the causes. Most municipalities in the Lower Mainland have changed their maintenance practices so that knotweed is not trimmed, but instead eradicated.
Council approved spending $6,000 left over from the invasive plant control budget to do a research project on eradicating knotweed from priority private properties.