Trees under threat in Brighton and Hove due to diseases

A number of pests and diseases are damaging trees across Brighton and Hove and some are being chopped down as a precaution to save others.

Elm disease, zigzag sawfly, ash dieback, oak processionary moths and pathogens affecting horse chestnut trees are sweeping across the area, with hundreds of trees felled to public distress.

Labour councillor Alan Robins, Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet member for sports, recreation and libraries, told members of the place overview and scrutiny committee that work to tackle elm disease was aimed at containing its rapid spread and preventing the loss of more trees.

A third of the trees in Brighton and Hove – more than 3,000 – are elms. The disease, a fungus carried by elm bark beetles, is being fought with the largest inoculation programme in the country.

Replacing street elms is expected to cost £30 million over the next five years, according to a report to the committee which met at Hove Town Hall last week.

Ash dieback cannot currently be contained, with trees removed from woodland areas for safety reasons, particularly in Stanmer Park. Replanting is estimated to cost £18,000 a hectare over ten years.

Green councillor Sue Shanks said communication about why trees were coming down needed to be better because she had seen the word spread with shock through street WhatsApp groups.

Cllr Shanks said: “Residents just need to know why this tree is coming down – either putting things through people’s doors or a notice on the tree about why this is happening.

“(Otherwise) people contact their ward councillors asking: ‘Why are you cutting our trees down?’”

She was sceptical about the need to fell infected ash trees but accepted the necessity of removing diseased elms.

“Friends of” groups and ward councillors were told about the removal of street trees, she was told, and notices were already placed on trees.

Labour councillor Theresa Fowler, who represents Hollingdean and Fiveways, said there had been “devastating” tree losses in her ward where diseased trees had to come down.

Cllr Fowler said she had read about people being killed by falling tree branches in another part of the country which underlined for her why the infected trees had to go.

She wanted to know when trees would be planted and what varieties would go back into Hollingbury and Burstead woods.

Cllr Robins said there was a cross-party woodland advisory group which included community groups.

He said: “Some are saying it looks devastating when all the trees were lost, with big holes, but now we’re seeing the sun creep in and we’re getting bluebells and primroses coming into the little copses.

“There is a big job to decide how we replant and not just a case of we’ve lost 40 trees so we’re going to put 40 new trees in. Some groups are coming forward with good ideas.”

A tree planting plan is under way this winter, including in Stanmer Park, other parks and in streets, with a budget of £164,000 to cover ash dieback.

The same amount has been budgeted for elm disease, the report to the committee said, although the budget is expected to overspend by £100,000 by the end of the year.

And £40,000 has been set aside to inoculate about 1,500 trees from elm disease.

Green councillor Ollie Sykes recalled how a school had left an infected log in a pile which he described as “contributing to the problem we have now” and asked whether the council could impose any sanction.

In 2015, a log pile at St Christopher’s School, in Church Road, Hove, was found to be the source of an outbreak of elm disease resulting in the loss of 23 trees in the area.

Cllr Sykes was told it was unlikely any sanctions could be imposed on private residents but signs placed on main routes into Brighton and Hove reminded people that logs can carry the disease.