Fines for failing to control African Lovegrass

May 1, 2008: The owners of a property at Kameruka were fined in the Bega Local Court this week for failing to manage the noxious weed, African lovegrass.

The case was brought by Bega Valley Shire Council weeds officer Ken Roberts who issued $200 Penalty Infringement Notices last June to each of the joint owners of the property following an inspection.

The notices were delayed by some weeks at the owners’ request but Mr Roberts found that almost none of the control work required had been done.

The landowners contested the Penalty Infringement Notices in court and on Wednesday Magistrate Chris Bone noted that failure to control noxious weeds was a serious offence as such failure affected other landholders.

He then doubled the original fines to $400 each and awarded costs of $3,400 against the landowners, bringing the total cost to them to $4,200.

Mr Roberts said ‘We much prefer to work with landholders to achieve good weed management outcomes but sometimes it is necessary to take legal action".