The Victorian government will invest $2.86 million to be shared across 56 councils through the roadside weeds and pests control program, with each council set to receive between $5000 and $75,000 as part of $11.5 million over four years in the program.

Weeds cost the Victorian economy more than $900 million annually by disrupting agricultural production, damaging native biodiversity and contributing to the spread of fires.

City of Greater Bendigo parks and open space manager Chris Mitchell said rural roadsides are often a breed ground for problematic plants.

READ MORE

"If you think about how big our municipality is, the amount of roadside vegetation areas we have, it doesn't really go a long way," he said.

"I think last year, we spent about $70,000 to $80,000 and that allowed us to do maybe 80 to 100 kilometers."

According to Bendigo Council's road safety plan published in 2007, with an update plan for 2022 to 2027 set to be delivered to council in October, there were around 3000 kilometres of local roads managed by council.

These figures included 1276 km of sealed and 1617 km of unsealed roads, but excluded highways and arterial roads managed by VicRoads.

"The program itself is probably not overly new to be honest," Mr Mitchell said.

"They may give it a more rural flavor because there's been a roadside weed program for a little while in which we have been successful in the past getting up to $70,000."

Mr Mitchell said St John's-wort, bridal creeper, prickly pear and blackberries are most commonly complained about but that depended most on the public's familiarity with plants, and the council focuses primarily on blackberry, St John's-wort and gorse.

READ MORE

The council also concentrate on when a weed clearly becomes a "pest" rather than a spot plant.

Local Government Minister Melissa Horne said the program could in turn save a significant amount of money.

"Through better control of our roadside weeds and pests, we could potentially save our farmers and economy millions of dollars each year," she said.

"We're [also] supporting local communities to reduce the spread of weeds and pests along rural roadsides, that have the potential to wreak havoc on native plant species.''

Mr Mitchell said the removal of weeds would depend on the specific variety and environment.

While manual removal is an option, the council may also use a spot spray application of registered herbicide.

"We're obviously environmentally conscious of the products we use," Mr Mitchell said.

"Sometimes there's still the old view that we use some pretty damning chemicals, but that's not the case.

"As part of the program you have to use registered controlled substances - which we do."

Members of the public can contact the City of Greater Bendigo customer service team if they have any concerns about weeds in the region, and are also reminded that trading restricted weeds and their propagules, either as plants, seeds, or contaminants, in other materials, is banned.

Now just one tap with our new app. Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser. See how to download it below: