Go for a walk and talk around the rubbish tip and Charles Valley, Speedway Road and check around. You will see large, well developed areas of this plant along with Australian Love Grass and Chilean Needle Grass as is the case along most major roads, Hume Highway and rail corridors.

These weeds (along with Sifton Bush), and Serrated Tussock are not hard to find. So more should be done about them by the council and main roads authorities. I contacted the main roads department about two years ago relating to the matter and was advised that there were no funds available.

However, my main concern is about the spread of Sifton Bush. Because it is a native plant in Australia we are not supposed to remove it. So what can be done?

I am a member of the Bushfire Brigade and I am seriously concerned about some of the dense areas of this plant and the possibility of fire going through them. I have observed that the plant grows to a height of at least two metres. In some areas it would be extremely dangerous for a fire truck to enter as there is no opportunity to observe the possible hazards on the ground.

With the Serrated Tussock, Needle Grass and Love Grass more will always need to be done, and landholders, including National Parks and Wildlife seem to be under no obligation to control any of the invasive weed species in our area. It always seems to be a question of funding. Viable agricultural land is needed to produce food. As our population grows, without serious attempts to deal with weeds infestation, feeding Australia as well as exports will suffer greatly.

A long term plan for weed control can never reach conclusion until biological controls are found for all these troublesome weeds. It will always be an ongoing battle.

Jan Cheetham, Murrays Flat.