AusBonsai

There are some great Privet/Firethorn near my place, on public land. What are the rules on collecting noxious weeds from public areas?

Do I need to apply for some kind of license? Anyone tried to obtain permission before in any state?

Technically you will need to get the landowners permission
Council, RTA, etc

Event though they are weeds, in this day and age you need to get the OK.

Ken

"What are the rules on collecting noxious weeds from public areas?"


There are no rules ... in which case you have to make your own

As much as I agree Oz that you need to make up your own mind, there are rules and they can and have been used to prosecute.

To carry out any work on council land, you require a permit and insurance.
Some of our clubs are working very hard to follow protocol's and develop a working relationship with their local councils.

"We write a nice letter to council, usually the parks and garden manager, asking for permission and of course explaining why we want the trees and also telling things like we will not leave any rubbish, we will not disturb the land, we will use a traffic management plan (for vehicle parking etc), we won't take any Aus Natives, and we will be very thankful.
We also send a thank you after the event, just so they remember us.
I should say that we start the process about eight months prior to the dig because it takes them that long to get back to us.
Good luck"

Granted, when we are talking singular weeds on a council strip, there is next to no chance of being prosecuted.
The worst that will happen is a ranger may tell you to cease, if you explain it's a weed, he has the power to let you continue though technically he should make you stop.

I would say the most important rule is don't get seen digging it out

If no one notices you remove it and no one cares enough to realize it is gone, was it ever really there in the first place?

People these days come before the courts on murder charges and get off, a charge of collecting a weed from the side of the road would be laughed out of court, the only real danger here is that someone actually gave you permission to collect the aforementioned weed and you got injured, in which case you may be able to sue for ten million dollars for a stubbed toe ... and thats why you will never get permission to remove a weed from the side of the road

Yup, they also won't give you permission for a weed, due to you spreading it whilst collecting. You need to do a coarse on weed disposal, to be able to dig them. Even then, your meant to destroy them, not keep them.

I say the council's would be wise, to open up state forests/national parks/council land to the collection of all non-natives/noxious for the bonsai community.
We'd solve their problem in a couple of years.

Mitchell wrote:We'd solve their problem in a couple of years.

Adelaide City Council would disagree with that I think.

Just dig the thing up and make sure you leave the area in better condition than it was in when you arrived. Sometimes a good idea to stick a native tree in the hole after you have removed the weed.

I'd just cover the hole, if you re-plant your running just as big a risk as taking a plant. Your not allowed to plant on council land either. Funny bunch.
Leaving the area in a better condition than when you found it, is a good idea though.

You would be amazed what can be achieved with a fluro vest and witches hats.

You should take into consideration, was the tree planted in this position deliberately?
Sometimes in the past councils have been guilty of planting noxious weeds as gardens, if deliberately planted I feel it is wrong to collect without council approval.

speaking from experience, just dig it up cause someone with less conviction than you will dig it up the moment you leave it.
I had worked on 5 liquidambers for the last 3 years. finally got a decent taper, ready to collect next winter and some @&$((:?:/,&$!?;:/?). dug them up about a week ago.

what sort of person steals clearly prepared trees?
also who bare roots liquidambers in full leaf? ya clown

sorry had to vent my anger somewhere.

andy hodges wrote:speaking from experience, just dig it up cause someone with less conviction than you will dig it up the moment you leave it.
I had worked on 5 liquidambers for the last 3 years. finally got a decent taper, ready to collect next winter and some @&$((:?:/,&$!?;:/?). dug them up about a week ago.

what sort of person steals clearly prepared trees?
also who bare roots liquidambers in full leaf? ya clown

sorry had to vent my anger somewhere.

G'day Andy,

I feel for you mate. The feeling you must have got when you realised they were gone would have been horrid.
What goes around comes around though

Regards,
Steven

that stinks,
but probably what i needed to hear.