Judge to rule in two weeks on Hague knotweed dispute
Residents of the Bomenbuurt in The Hague say an invasive plant spreading through their gardens comes from a neighbouring garden. The owner's lawyer disputes this.
A resident of the Bomenbuurt in The Hague asked a judge on Wednesday, in summary proceedings (kort geding), to order a property owner to have Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant, removed from his land on the Thomsonlaan. He also wants his own garden cleared of it.
The court will rule in the case in two weeks.
Residents of the Bomenbuurt say the plant is spreading fast in their gardens and that the neighbouring property on the Thomsonlaan is the source. They argue the owner has done too little to stop it. In all, nine residents have approached him, and a second court case against him is due next week.
“My wife and I have sleepless nights over it,” the resident told the court. His lawyer said: “There simply can’t be any more waiting.”
The owner does not live on the Thomsonlaan but rents out the house and garden. He did not appear in court. His lawyer said a contractor has been found to clean the garden.
The lawyer disputed that this garden is the source of the knotweed in the neighbourhood. “Further research is needed,” he said, adding that it would be wrong to make the owner pay for cleaning other gardens too.
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Kort geding
Summary proceedings: a fast civil court procedure for urgent cases. The judge gives a provisional ruling; the parties can still bring regular proceedings on the substance of the case.