Natural Resource Management

As part of the maintenance of roadside vegetation, Council undertakes a spraying program within both urban and rural areas using Government approved chemicals. As part of the program, Council invites residents to apply for their property frontage to be added to the No Spray Register for the 2022-2024 period.

Previous years permit holders will need to re-apply as permits expire.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE ON 30 AUGUST 2023 FOR THE 2023 YEAR.

Application for the No Spray Register for this financial year have now closed. Application need to be received by 30 August.

If your application is approved, you must undertake control of the vegetation along the frontage of your property in accordance with Council’s No Spray Register Policy.

Council encourages planting of trees and shrubs. For every tree removed because of safety reasons we encourage residents to replant, not necessarily in the same spot, but within their property and following the “things to consider” when planting. This will then ensure a green future for all generations.

Should you require further information on the types of trees or shrubs to plant in your area, look around at your neighbouring properties. Select trees or shrubs that are growing well, and note the position they have been planted. Make a note of the type of tree or shrub it may be or with the property owners permission take a small cutting.

Your local nursery can provide you with a wealth of information on the types of trees which grow well in your area. They would most likely be able to recognize your cutting and stock or recommend similar species. Planting natives on your property supports a healthier environment and increases habitat for native animals.

Native plants usually adapt to low nutrient environments and need very little fertilizer. With a good mulch and watering to first establish the tree or shrub, native plants can become low maintenance. Natives in the garden, trees, shrubs and ground covers will also reduce weed risk.

Selecting Your Tree – Things to Consider

Where to plant a tree is very important. The first step is to look up. If there are overhead utilities plant a low growing tree or select a different planting site. Planting a tall growing tree where it doesn’t have room to grow can lead to problems in the future.

The second step is to look down. Are there underground utilities, waterlines or wastewater pipes or trenches in the area? If so, select a different planting site. Planting too close to these utilities will cause problems in the future. The last step is to look around. Make sure you leave plenty of room for your tree to grow. A spot next to buildings may not be perfect when the tree reaches its mature size.

Caring for your tree

Water as needed throughout the season. To avoid over-watering remember to check the wetness of the soil under the mulch and adapt your watering to rainfall and soil conditions. Mulch improves soil structure and aeration, keeps roots cool and moist and controls weeds. Apply 2” to 4” of woody aged mulch. Stake if necessary using wide webbing straps secured to stakes.

Tree Management Policy

The purpose of Council’s Tree Management Policy is to provide direction for the management of trees under Council control throughout the Municipality.

Tree Management Policy

The Resource & Planning Stream of the Tasmanian Civil & Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) can help resolve neighbourhood tree disputes under the Neighbourhood Disputes About Plants Act 2017 if you are not able to resolve it informally with your neighbour.

You can view a copy of the act and read more information about this on the website below:

Neighbourhood Disputes about Plants Act 2017 | Resource and Planning Stream (TASCAT)

Legal Aid Tasmania also has a fact sheet which can provide you with more information:

www.legalaid.tas.gov.au/factsheets/neighbourhood-trees-and-plants/

This year, Sorell Council is concentrating its efforts towards elimination of three weeds – Paterson’s curse (Echium plantagineum), Feathertop (Pennisetum villosum), and Mirror bush (Coprosma repens). These weeds are rapidly gaining ground in our coastal ecosystem and, left uncontrolled, likely to be as problematic as Boneseed. If you recognise any of these in your garden, please replace with other evergreen local plants. If you see it on council properties, let us know by filling in the online observation form or take a photo and upload it to iNaturalist (https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/users/sign_in) or Natural Values Atlas (https://www.naturalvaluesatlas.tas.gov.au/).

Feathertop (Pennisetum villosum)

Mirror bush (Coprosma repens)

Weeds are no different to native grasses, physiologically and morphologically. However, weeds are unwanted for a variety of reasons:

•  They out compete native species.
• They change the physiology of the environment.
• They rapidly spread over a wider range, eventually changing the ecology of certain environments and do greater harm to economy in that area.

All exotic species are weeds, although our long established thinking about them as weeds is not always true. Many exotic species do not spread rapidly, are not invasive and are quite contained in their original site. However, some pose a serious threat by rapidly expanding over large areas.

Weeds are extremely costly to control, and can cause serious monetary loses causing expensive losses for agriculture and livestock. Weeds are not only a concern to farmers, they are a major concern to every individual as they directly or indirectly affect us all.

Australia has introduced approximately more than 3,207 species and naturalized in Australia. Of these species more than 500 species are considered as weeds nationwide. Consequently weed management is a great challenge to Australia. Australia’s Biosecurity is highly sensitive in terms of importing any plants and animals that are likely to become a weed or pest. There are measures in place to avoid any consequence that may be brought with the introduction of foreign plants.

https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/policy/australia/border-surveillance

Type of Weeds

The Australian Government has classified weeds into two broad categories, declared and non-declared environmental and agricultural Weeds.

Some declared weeds pose greater threat than others, and therefore they are further identified as Weeds of National Significance (WONS).

147 weeds are declared under the Weed Management Act 1999. However, not all 147 weeds are present in Tasmania. Out these declared 147 weeds, 32 weeds are declared as WONS.

Current data shows the Sorell Municipality is infested with at least 9 WONS and many other Environmental Weeds.

Council has legal obligation under Weed Management Act 1999 to control declared weeds on land we own or manage. From the management perspective, declared weeds are categorized into two zones – Zone A and Zone B.

Zone A species are those which have very limited presence or no presence in the Municipality The primary objective for these weeds is to erdaicate them.

Zone B species are widespread in the Municipality. The primary management objective for these weeds is to control them.

However, there are species which are in Zone A but have had wider infestation recently occur, and some Zone B species can be eradicated due to the continued efforts from all stakeholders.

Legal requirements

Management of weeds cost millions of dollars and it is not always entirely possible to eradicate weeds. We must understand one weed can be eradicated from a certain place for a certain period of time, but without continuous monitoring and follow up action, then its eradication cannot be  guaranteed. Shared responsibility is critical as it is the duty of every individual to eradicate and  maintain their property for weeds.

The Australian Government has declared that it is the legal responsibility of every land owner to manage their property effectively to to eradicate or otherwise contain the declared weeds within their boundary under the Weed Management Act 1999.

Sorell Council as a regulator has legal authority to inspect any property and issue weed notices to the land owner under the Weed Management Act 1999. If the weed infestations noted in Weed Notices are not brought under control within the defined time frame, then Council may issue a Requirement Notice under the Weed Management Act 1999.  Failure to comply with a Requirement Notice can result in an on the spot fine of up to $1,000.  Ongoing breaches of the Act may attract more significant penalties.

These weeds are often garden escapees that multiplied in the natural environment and have caused serious economic and environmental damage.

WONS are the top priority weeds for any local land manger due to their potential to cause significant impact and the associated difficulty to eradicate them once they are established.

These are combination of WONS and other environmental weeds that are listed under the Weed Management Act 1999. They are not necessarily present at current state but can pose serious impact if they are introduced.

These species are not yet declared but have the potential to become species of significant concern if not managed properly and timely.

There are number of ongoing projects in relation to the management of weeds in our Municipality.

We regularly engage in managing weeds from our parks and reserves. Further, we also control weeds in the roadside based on the needs assessment undertaken by our Parks and Reserves crew.

Last year, we received a grant from the Weed Action Fund to help a number of landowners to manage targeted weeds. The Council requested expression of interest from landowners within LGA and based on grant eligibility, some of the landowners were granted a one time grant of $5000 to manage/control these weeds.

This year, another round of the Weed Action Fund grant has been implemented via a contractor to manage targeted weeds such as Gorse, Serrated Tussock and Chilean Needle Grass. Properties were identified where these weeds are causing serious impacts and property owners were contacted to liaise with the contractor to implement the control action.

We are continuously working to contain weeds that causes serious threat to our natural environment and livelihood of our communities. We understand managing weeds is a continuous process that involves our organisation, everyone in our community and many other stakeholders outside of our Municipality.

Local Community Action

We have highly enthusiastic and motivated local community groups that engages our local communities to manage weeds in their local area. These groups have been successful in controlling weeds within their community. These community groups run regular Working Bee that focuses on controlling weeds, removing litter and taking care of the natural environment.

If you are interested about understanding weeds and want to directly get involved in managing these obnoxious weeds, please reach out to us via NRM department or contact your local community groups – Southern Beaches Landcare/Coastcare Group, Marion Bay Coastcare Group, Friends of Blue Lagoon and Wildcare Friends of Pitt Water Orielton Lagoon.

Priority Weeds for Sorell Council:

All weeds affect many aspects of life and livelihood, such as agriculture, water quality, environment, aesthetic and human health. However, there are few weeds that are more invasive, dominant and poses more serious impacts to communities. Based on its invasiveness, impact, relative abundance and regional partnership, some of the species are priority weeds over other weeds in Sorell municipality.

• African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum)
• African love grass (Eragrostis curvula)
• Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)
• Boneseeds (Chrysanthemoides monilifera)
• Bridal Creeper (Asparagus asparagoides)
• Chilean Needle Grass (Nassella neesiana)
• Gorse (Ulex europaeus)
• Serrated Tussock (​Nassella trichotoma)
• Spanish heath (​Erica lusitanica)

Principles of Weed Management

The Australian Weeds Strategy (AWS) 2017 – 2027 has outlined following seven principles that should underpin weed management in Australia and guide planning, investment and actions.

1) Effective weed management is a responsibility shared between landholders, community, industry and government.

2) Evidence-based decision-making should underpin the approach to weeds.

3) Risk-based prevention and early intervention is generally the most cost-effective approach for managing weeds.

4) Prioritisation of weed management must be informed by a risk based approach, considering feasibility, likelihood of success, impact and national significance.

5) Coordination amongst landholders, community, industry and government is necessary to manage weeds at a landscape scale.

6) Sustaining capability and capacity across landholders, community, industry and government is fundamental to effective weed management.

7) Individuals, organisations and industry groups that create risks that may result in a weed entering, emerging, establishing or spreading in Australia have a role in minimising the impacts and contributing to the costs of management.

We adopts the roles and responsibilities outlined in the AWS 2017 as below:

• Exercise statutory duties to encourage responsible weed management.
• Manage weed problems on our land in a responsible way, in co-operation with other landowners.
• Assist with the coordination of community weed management programs.
• Represent community interests in weed management.
• Support the activities of local groups undertaking weed management.
• Assist with data collection and information exchange.
• Develop and adopt ‘good neighbour’ policies, where appropriate, to help reduce the spread and impacts of high risk weed species.
• Support and build public awareness about weed issues.

Weed management depends on the presence, type, invasiveness and cost to management. However, if we act early and thoroughly we don’t need to be selective in managing these weeds. Prevention of any weed in an area is the best approach and early detection of species will help management reduce the cost significantly. However, the ideal condition is not always available thus, we have to work on stages for species based on the strategy.

Weed resources coming soon……

It is very important that everyone is aware of these obnoxious weeds and report them as they see them.

One of the simplest way of reporting them is taking a picture and uploading them via iNaturalist. This is an app that can be downloaded on android devices via the Google Play Store or on Apple devices via the App Store.

Please click here to access the Sorell Council weed observation form

Native or local ducks are not necessarily what we see every day in our waterbodies, but amazingly – Tasmania does have 11 of Australia’s 17 native duck species!

We want to protect our native ducks from the impact of introduced species. One of these, Mallards, were introduced from the Northern hemisphere – they are bigger, aggressive and eat a wider range of foods than our native species. Mallards can cause serious impacts on native species and outcompete them, thereby leading to decline in population or eventual extinction.

Significant concerns have also been raised due to cross-breeding of similar looking native Pacific Black Ducks with Mallards. Cross-breeding cause hybridization and hybrids have caused serious impact on native species around the globe.

Knowing what is a native duck or an introduced species can help.

Why is this important?

Native birds play an important role in ecological balance by feeding in algae, preventing unwanted algal bloom and feed on pests that checks diseases.

They also:

• act as an important vector for seed dispersal
• are important ecological indicators, they can respond to slight changes in the environment and allow us to act quickly
• they provide economic value to our livelihood
• they are important ecotourism assets

 What we can do to help

• do not create environment for Mallards to compete with our native species by not feeding them, provide water, or shelter.
• domestic ducks should be managed within defined boundaries and not allow them to interbreed with feral species
• keep dogs on-lead and away from ducks
• get to know more about different duck species, their feeding habit, their habitat and their role in the environment
• inspire those around you to appreciate the complexity of nature