About 30 trees are to be felled near a park in Brighton after elm disease was found, Brighton and Hove City Council said this morning (Tuesday 30 July).
The council said: “Unfortunately, work will begin this week to remove several trees in Peacock Lane, near Withdean Park, following an outbreak of elm disease.
“Brighton and Hove City Council need to remove approximately 30 larger elm trees on the western half of the road or risk the disease spreading further across the city.
“They will also be removing several smaller elms which have grown from infected roots. The non-elms will be left alone unless they’re found to be unsafe.
“The council has written to and met with residents in the area to let them know about the work which is expected to take around three weeks.
“Once finished, they’ll assess the remaining canopy cover and plan to plant some replacement trees from more diverse species to ensure greater resilience in the future.
“Felling trees is a last resort. Unfortunately, there are no viable ways to stop the disease spreading along the lane from tree to tree through the roots.
“Removing these trees now gives the council the best chance of protecting thousands more of the city’s elms.”
Labour councillor Alan Robins, cabinet member for sport and recreation, said: “This is very sad news.
“Having to remove these trees is never an easy decision for our arboriculture team to make. They do it with a heavy heart but backed up by years of experience and expertise.
“Leaving the trees there would give the disease the chance to spread and cause further devastation across the city.
“We’re sorry for the impact this loss will have on the people living in Peacock Lane and we’ll do everything we can to minimise the impact, including planting new trees.
“We’re very proud of the city’s elm collection and are doing what we can to protect it. We ask residents to only buy wood for log burners and stoves if they know it is not elm wood.”
The council added: “Elm bark beetles breed in the bark of cut, diseased or weakened elm trees. The disease then causes the tree to wilt and die.
“Elm disease is spread by
- fungi transferred from diseased to healthy elms by elm bark beetles
- the disease being transferred underground between trees through the roots or
- new trees growing from infected fragments following the removal of a diseased tree
“If you spot any elm trees with leaves wilting or turning yellow or brown ahead of autumn, if could be a sign of elm disease.
“If you’re concerned about an elm tree, please contact the council by emailing elmdisease@brighton-hove.gov.uk with a photo and the tree’s ‘what3words’ location so we can come and take a look.
“If it’s infected, we can take immediate action to remove it and stop the disease spreading free of charge to the tree owner.”
The Green Legacy at work. They never really did get their head around actual Environmental issues.
Well I think we all know that “green” means “communist” – the green flag of convenience is just a ruse as communists never get elected here.
I think your tin foil hat might be a bit tight, Chris.
The consequences of the neglect of our environment by the previous Green-led administration leaves a lamentable legacy. They were a coterie of inept, irresponsible fools. Funny how most of them have vanished into thin air since they were booted out at the last local election.
What could the Greens (or any other party) have done to stop Elm Bark Beetles laying their eggs on elm trees, and thereby introducing Dutch Elm Disease to those trees?
Simple – should have done more frequent checks .
You find and remove one diseased elm before the disease spreads to others.
The swivel eyed loon Greens were only concerned with rolling out their cycle-centric agenda and ignored the basics.
Dutch Elm disease – it seems VERY few people now know – is a result of lax biosecurity in the UK, which in turn is the consequence of an ideological conviction that – “As long as someone’s making some money out of it, don’t strangle it with regulations”. This biologically ignorant approach has delivered us many other fine messes.
Dutch Elm Disease killed 50% – yes FIFTY PERCENT of all the wayside trees in England in the 1970s, and it was brought here on diseased timber from America. We have learnt NOTHING from the experience, as if we had, we would not now be losing all of our native Ash trees – 150 million mature ones and 2 billion saplings. This is another fine mess we’ve got ourselves into by permitting the import of diseased Ash saplings – when we can grow them perfectly well here without needing to take the risk.
So Dutch Elm Disease has nothing at all to do with Green politics – if there were a political dimension to the tale it would be more about the lax regulations the Conservatives love. Instead it is a story of human weakness: greed, short-sightedness and lack of principle. Will those grinding their bigoted axes here please take note.
I believe the tarmac on the pavements instead of slabs starves the tree roots of water. There is no proper irrigation so the roots spread further afield trying to find water, thus spreading the disease to other elms nearby. I have pictures of my street taken thirty years ago. The trees were fully mature and the slabbed paving is flat. Now parts of the paving are totally impassable for prams and wheelchairs due to tree roots bulging up trying to find water.