Council set to tackle ash dieback issue across Horsham District

Horsham District Council is developing a programme of inspection and felling to tackle the increasing threat of ash dieback disease affecting trees on its land.

The programme will determine how the Council will manage the anticipated risks and issues associated with the spread of ash dieback, a serious fungal disease, across the Horsham District.

It is estimated that up to 90% of all Ash trees in the UK will be affected by ash dieback and ultimately be killed by the disease over the next decade. There is currently no cure or method of control to prevent or protect against the disease. Affected trees become brittle and difficult to fell, and pose a significant risk to people, property and the environment, if not dealt with in a timely fashion.

Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture Cllr Roger Noel commented:

Ash dieback will unfortunately have a massive impact on our woodlands and parks.

We have already been felling individual trees that have succumbed to the disease, but we are now stepping up our management as a safety measure.

From this winter, and for the next few years, we will be removing diseased and dying Ash trees from many of our council-owned sites, including Warnham Local Nature Reserve and Southwater Country Park. This will be a phased approach, targeting woods in order of the urgency of the work required.

We will be contacting residents who live next to affected wooded areas, before work starts at each site. Some of our woods are between 30-50% Ash, so their removal will have a significant impact on the landscape, but this is sadly unavoidable.

In most cases we will be allowing natural regeneration to repair the woodland, rather than replanting, which would not be effective.

Ash trees that have become infected may display a range of symptoms, but most obvious is dead twigs and branches with no leaves.  The disease weakens the tree over time, with the canopy becoming thinner. Mature trees in good growing conditions may be able to resist the infection for several years, whereas younger or weaker trees may die more quickly.

For further information about the disease and the programme, please visit our Ash dieback webpage.