Your recent article about the voluntary Dutch Elm Disease control works which took place in Lancing and Sompting last weekend left me with mixed emotions (The Argus, March 26).

Firstly, I continue to marvel at the commitment of arborists to saving the national elm collection in Brighton and Hove, recognising its incalculable importance.

But I am saddened by Brighton and Hove City Council's refusal to fund proper measures to protect its elms such as the aforementioned exercise in Adur.

This was to eliminate as many elm bark beetles as possible before they could infest the city's elms.

Contentiously, the council says it cannot fund works in another borough and, in an ideal world, perhaps it would be better to transfer remit to a central Government agency.

It should be remembered that in the mid-Seventies, Brighton Council's parks and gardens' senior management decided the town's elms could not be saved.

Only the voluntary efforts of Brighton's Tree Gang members working in Southwick and Shoreham over the weekends, together with support from Save the Elms campaigners, led to the reversal of this policy, thus ensuring the existence of today's large population and saving a great deal of expenditure.

It is about time the council fully met its responsibilities and stopped treating public arboriculture as a Cinderella service.

  • Tom Barwell, ex-Brighton Council arborist, Queen's Park Road, Brighton