Complaints about invasive weeds, 2021-2025
Case reference FOI2026/01690
Received 10 August 2026
Published 8 September 2026
Request
I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from your authority:
Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 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.
Response
Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Please find attached the response to your recent request for information.
Please note that we have not received any complaints about either giant hogweed or Himalayan balsam.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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