Bridgend land owner wins knotweed appeal court pay-out

A land owner has won a legal fight after complaining about Japanese knotweed encroaching from council land.

Appeal court judges ruled Marc Davies was entitled to £4,900 in damages as his site in Bridgend had been blighted.

He had taken action with Bridgend council, which owns a nearby lane, but had lost arguments in a county court.

But three Court of Appeal judges upheld an appeal on Friday after considering legal arguments at a recent hearing in London.

In a written ruling, Lord Justice Baker, Lord Justice Birss, and Lord Justice Snowden explained that Mr Davies would receive £4,900 damages for the "residual" diminution in value - or "blight" - of his property.

They said the legal "principle" was important, given the "number of knotweed cases".

"This case is about the role played by diminution in value in cases of nuisance involving the plant Japanese knotweed," said Lord Justice Birss.

"The appellant Mr Davies owns a property. It adjoins land owned by the local council, the respondent.

"The knotweed encroached from the respondent's land into the appellant's land."

Judges said Mr Davies had become concerned about knotweed in 2017 and raised it with the council in 2019.

They said he had brought a "claim in nuisance" against the council which had been considered by a county court judge in Swansea.

Lord Justice Birss said £4,900 was a "fair figure" for the "residual diminution in value" in Mr Davies' case.