Abseilers tackle weed control

KATINA CURTIS

IF YOU saw men in orange jumping off cliffs recently, don’t despair: they were the latest attack on noxious weeds in the area.

David Pomery, the chief weeds officer with the Illawarra District Noxious Weeds Authority, said the abseilers were poisoning the last bits of bitou bush on cliffs at Gerringong and Kiama.

“Bitou bush is declared a noxious weed, so we’ve got to control it. We do hand spraying and ground spraying and in areas where it’s more inaccessible we’ll do some aerial spraying,” he said.

“But there are some sites on a vertical cliff where even a helicopter can’t get to, so our only chance is to send people over the edge, basically.”

The men going over the edge were from Nowra company Enviroquest, which specialises in doing landscape work while abseiling.

A spokesman said the spraying work was fairly easy since they sometimes did things using chainsaws.

Mr Pomery said the Noxious Weeds Authority had recently found a patch of Glory lilies near Werri Beach, which were on a state-wide alert list.

“It’s a big problem on the north coast and they’ve found that where they clear the Bitou bush, (the Glory lily) comes up,” he said.

“It’s harder to control because it’s got a bulb that it grows from, so it takes a lot longer to kill. Over winter you don’t see it, but in summer it sends its shoots up.”

He said the patch near Werri might have come from clippings out of someone’s garden and that the area had been treated and the authority would keep an eye on it.

Another noxious weed newly discovered in the region was Chilean Needle Grass, Mr Pomery said, with several patches found near Wollongong.

Chilean Needle Grass is related to serrated tussock, which is a big problem further inland.

“If this is in a farm or agricultural area, it rapidly invades the area,” Mr Pomery said.