FOI request (FOIR-864288255)

Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 where applicable, please provide information about complaints received by the council concerning invasive weeds growing on neighbouring or adjoining land.

For each of the five complete calendar years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, please provide: 

The total number of unique complaints received concerning invasive weeds.

A breakdown of these complaints by the following plant species:

• Japanese knotweed
• Bamboo
• Giant hogweed
• Himalayan balsam
• Other invasive plant species

Please provide the information electronically, preferably as an Excel or CSV file.

For the purposes of this request:

• Please include cases where the plant had spread, was alleged to have spread or was considered at risk of spreading from neighbouring or adjoining land.
• Please include complaints concerning privately owned, commercially owned and council-owned neighbouring land.
• Please exclude reports made solely about an invasive plant growing on the reporting person’s own land, unless the report also concerned its spread from neighbouring or adjoining land.
• Please exclude routine inspections, scheduled maintenance and infestations identified internally where no corresponding report was received from a member of the public.
• “Other invasive plant species” means any other plant recorded by the council as invasive, non-native, encroaching or requiring control because of its spread.

Please count each unique case or council reference number once, even if multiple communications were received about the same case. Please allocate the complaint to the calendar year in which it was first received.

If one complaint concerned more than one named plant species, please include it under each relevant species.

Where records confirm that no relevant complaints were received, please record the figure as “0”.