Sheffield Council facing spiralling cost of dealing with trees hit by killer diseases

The council’s communities, parks and leisure policy committee yesterday (June 12) agreed to write to the government, urging it to make funds available to help the council cope with the cost in what is a nationwide problem.

Ash dieback is killing much of the country’s population of ash trees and, once a tree is infected, it cannot be saved. Ramorum disease is also devastating larch trees, which are grown mainly in conifer plantations to be felled, so there is an added economic loss.

Ash dieback makes trees brittle and a possible risk to people in parks or on council-owned land. In woodland, they can usually be left to fall safely.

The committee heard that the cost of removing a tree averages out at £400, meaning that the total cost of removing the 12-22,000 that pose a risk to people or property will be between £5 million, if 50% are affected, and £9 million, if that figure rises to 85%.

A report to the committee said: “We are anticipating that 2023-24 costs for ash dieback work will be approximately £320,000 and likely to be nearer £500,000 for 2023-24.”

‘Stark’

That figure is predicted to continue to rise and could hit £1,200,000 by 2029-30 before beginning to tail off. The situation was described as “stark”.

The report said: “The loss of so many ash trees will have a significant effect on the landscape. The impact is likely to be greatest in our parks and open spaces where large individual trees stand.

“It is likely to be less noticeable in our woodlands where mixed species grow closely together and where natural regeneration will fill the gaps over time. Past studies have found that over 1,000 species were associated with ash trees, including birds, mammals, bryophytes, fungi, invertebrates and other plants.

“A number of these are rare species which are only likely to become rarer due to the loss of ash trees.”

A tree officer told councillors that more diseases are on the way, spread by global trade which allows diseases to reach new countries and exacerbated by climate change, which gives a better environment for some diseases.

Councillors heard that public money is available for replacement planting but not for removing the dead and dying trees.

Dramatic

Head of parks and countryside Ruth Bell said that the high cost of dealing with the problem is impacting on other areas of the department’s budget. When a statutory notice is served ordering that a tree must be felled it has to be dealt with quickly and safely, meaning the cost is high.

She said: “You saw the graph, which is sometimes referred to as the ‘graph of doom’. When it reaches its highest point, in fact several years before that, it is more money than parks and countryside has to deal with all of the sites that we have across the city.”

She explained that the council doesn’t have the staff to do that work so has to bring in contractors. Contractor Amey deals with street trees.

Committee chair Coun Richard Williams said that the scale of the problem is “quite dramatic”.

Coun Karen McGowan suggested that the council should ask for government funding because the problem is worse in the city with its high tree levels than for other local authorities. Councillors agreed to the suggestion.

Read this: Shop owner calls on council leader to speak on parking controversy

Read this: Sale of land in woods agreed for rail plan