A council has pledged £120,000 to tackle an invasive plant along a stretch of coastline across the next two years.
North Norfolk District Council is looking at ways to address Japanese knotweed along cliffs in Overstrand, near Cromer.
The money will be used to clear the promenade and the disposal of slump material containing Japanese Knotweed and long-term monitoring to track changes in size and vegetation cover of the plant.
The council will work to address the issues between autumn 2025 and autumn 2027.
In March, the council closed the central selection of the sea wall in Overstrand following a cliff slip.
The cliff slip material contains Japanese knotweed which is said to cover an extensive area of Overstrand’s unstable cliffs and slope.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service previously said recent landslips had caused knotweed to fall on to the sea wall and is said to be very expensive to dispose of.
Knotweed suppresses the growth of native species, which adds to the risk of erosion as it leaves cliffs bare when it dies off. This then increases the risk of water run-off destabilising the cliffs.
The council said it was a legal requirement to prevent the plant from spreading on a person’s land and removal and disposal must be undertaken by a licensed contractor.
Works will include investigating the potential for annual spraying across the entire area of infestation and stabilising the base of the coastal slope to inhibit further encroachment of slump material potentially containing the plant.
AloJapan.com