THE Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) has issued a warning to landowners to take control of serrated tussock infestations after a Ballan man was fined and convicted last month.
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The landowner pleaded guilty in the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates Court in December to not complying with a legal notice issued in June to control the noxious weed within the allocated timeframe.
He was fined $1000 and ordered to pay costs of $320.
The man had previously been convicted in 2009 for the same offence.
DEPI bio-security operations manager Brett Harrison said it was a community effort to manage serrated tussock infestations.
“DEPI takes its role in compliance seriously and those who are letting the community down, the DEPI ensures that they meet their responsibility,” Mr Harrison said.
“When an individual isn’t pulling their weight, they are putting others at risk.
“In a season like what we have had, you will have two to three germinations. On a dry year it will be once, but you need to be on the lookout all year round.”
Listed as one of Australia’s worst weeds, serrated tussock spreads rapidly over pastures and native grasslands and creates complex issues within the environment in which it grows, requiring long-term management.
