Ash trees at risk from infectious disease, including 250,000 in Sheffield

The highly infectious, incurable disease is spreading rapidly across Europe and was first recorded in Britain in 2012. The disease is now widespread across England.

The Peak District and other parts of Derbyshire and Yorkshire have already seen a significant impact, and it has now begun to spread across Sheffield.

It is expected that around 90 per cent of England’s ash trees will die from the disease. Sheffield is home to around 253,000 ash trees and could lose between 127,000 and 215,000, which means preventative action now is essential to restore and protect the city’s existing and future ash population.

Approximately 153,000 of Sheffield’s ash trees grow on public land and the remaining 100,000 are on private land.

Affected trees become unpredictably brittle and dangerous as the disease takes hold. They can drop limbs or fall entirely in the later stages of the disease. It is critical that trees on both public and private land are identified and monitored.

Sheffield City Council’s parks and countryside service and its Streets Ahead contractor Amey carry out tree inspections for all trees on council land and are monitoring all ash trees for signs of infection.

The only way to remove the risk posed by badly affected trees is to remove them.

Councillor Mary Lea, cabinet member for culture, parks and leisure said: “In most cases this disease is fatal for ash trees and we have been monitoring the situation across England closely, in preparation for it taking hold here in Sheffield.

“It is airborne and incurable, and we know from countries overseas and what has happened in the south of England that sadly we stand to lose a huge percentage of our ash trees.

“I understand that there may naturally be some concerns about the removal of trees and I want to reassure people that it’s the last thing we want to do. However, we have to prioritise the safety of people and so we are closely following national guidance from The Tree Council to manage this situation as best we can.”

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