Works are under way to fell and replace diseased Ash trees in Herefordshire, in accordance with the council’s Ash Dieback Action Plan.
Ash dieback was first officially recorded in the UK in 2012, with only a small fraction of trees proving resistant and others showing some levels of resilience.
Ash is the third most common tree in Britain and there are up to 60 million ash trees outside woodlands in the UK. In Herefordshire, over 6,500 hectares of broad-leaved woodland contains ash - it also makes up 17% of all roadside trees and is found in most areas of public open space.
The risk of losing so many ash trees would have a major impact on the county's landscape and benefits to the ecosystem they provide, such as:
- Filtering the air
- Storing carbon
- Reducing flooding
- Providing shade
- Protecting soils
We are committed to tree regeneration - our Tree and Hedgerow Management Plan sets out that every tree removed will be replaced with a minimum of five new, smaller trees. Where there is insufficient space to do this, larger trees will be planted on public open space instead.
We have also invested £8k into the Wye to the Wyre project, which will create a 60-mile corridor of enhanced tree cover across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The corridor, that will build on remaining pockets of ancient woodland to create a climate resilient landscape, will stretch from the Lower Wye Valley and Forest of Dean in the south, to the Wyre Forest in the north.
Cllr Elissa Swinglehurst, Cabinet Member Environment, said: “These are important works to maintain and promote the health of Herefordshire’s trees. We only fell infected trees that are clearly in serious decline, pose an imminent danger to people or property, or where significant timber value is likely to be lost through infection.
“The recovery of lost trees and woodlands due to ash dieback is very important to maintain the county's tree canopy cover, and we are identifying our tree replacement scheme as part of the Ash Dieback Action Plan. Tree planting and ash dieback recovery also form part of the developing nature recovery strategy, and Herefordshire tree and hedgerow strategy.”
Herefordshire Council is only responsible for trees growing on council property, including highway verges. If you are a tree owner, you have a legal duty of care and must maintain your trees in a reasonably safe condition. In most cases, trees that are next to roads and public rights of way are the responsibility of the neighbouring landowner.
More information on ensuring tree health and Ash Dieback can be found on the web page.