In recent weeks, regular walkers in Brighton’s Hollingbury Woods have been distressed to see hundreds of trees being felled and the woodland left almost unrecognisable from the damage. Residents have described it as “shocking” and “heartbreaking”.
Widespread felling of ash trees, due to ash dieback, has been taking place across Brighton and Hove over the past few months and the city council has been severely criticised for the way that the work has been managed.
Ash dieback: a deadly disease
Ash dieback (ADB) is a fungus affecting ash trees in the UK, particularly across the south-east of England. First causing the leaves and shoots to wilt and die, the disease eventually affects the whole tree.
Young trees seem more susceptible than older ones, and though there are hopeful signs that some ash trees may be resistant, it is estimated that up to 80% of all ash trees across the UK may eventually be impacted by ADB, causing devastation to the landscape.
Widespread concerns about the woodland work
While many people, including myself, were aware of the spread of ADB and the need for some diseased trees in local woodlands to be felled for safety reasons, it has been very upsetting to see the extent of the work.
Questions have been raised about whether so many trees needed to be felled and whether healthy trees have also been chopped down unnecessarily, especially as the contractors are allowed to sell off the felled trees. Other trees and pathways through the woods have been left with considerable damage too, all just at the start of the nesting season.
In contrast to previous tree felling in Hollingbury Woods carried out in winter 2003/4, which was done more sensitively and mainly by hand, large machinery was used in the recent work, giving rise to more extensive damage and mess. A representative from the council’s city parks department said: “As this essential public safety work concludes on this site, an assessment on the impact to paths will be made and the Council will work with the contractor to address the damage done.”
In addition, serious concerns have been raised by local residents and community groups about the way that the council has gone about the work and the lack of communication about it. There were inadequate notices or signage in Hollingbury Woods, which meant that some people were unaware of the work taking place.
There has also been poor communication to residents and relevant community groups. For example, local conservation group Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods (FHBW) were not informed when the felling work was due to start, so had to change a work session venue at short notice. Furthermore, they were not informed about an initial meeting which was held by the council’s aboriculture specialist (initially just for councillors) to explain the reasons for the work and address local residents’ concerns after these were first raised.
A public meeting was held to address concerns
The number of questions raised about the woodland work was so considerable that Brighton and Hove council decided to hold a public meeting about it at Hove Town Hall on 17 March.
At a packed meeting, Director of Culture and Environment Chenine Bhathena explained that they were “dealing with an epidemic” of ADB and apologised that “steps were missed” in communicating the work to the public. The council had considered closing areas of woodland instead of felling trees, but decided this was not a practical option.
Head of Operations Robert Walker defended the use of heavy machinery in the woods for safety reasons, as diseased ash trees are very unstable, so work by hand could be dangerous (despite this having been done in the previous year).
The sale of chopped wood had offset £60,000 of the project’s costs, so no profit was made, though some of those attending were not satisfied at this explanation.
The council gave assurances that they would work more closely with local residents and groups in the future, stating: “We need to review how this next round of works has gone. We accept there are fundamental bits wrong with it.”
FHBW committee members Lesley Brown and Karen Johnston commented afterwards: “The whole thing has been very poorly handled because a lot of people feel very passionate about it. The fact they came and gave a public apology was really necessary.”
Some residents were not satisfied with the explanations given by the council. Bill Hicks thought it felt like “lip service”, adding: “There was no concern shown that they are still engaged in the mass felling of trees, including healthy ones, in bird nesting season.”
Photo credit: Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods
So what now for the local woodland?
City parks representative Lorcan Mannning reported: “Council officers are working with the contractors and visiting the site daily. Specialist smaller machinery has been brought in to further reduce the impact to the paths. Today’s report from site is that the ground is drying out and following the completion of extraction, (expectation is this week) the path will be cleaned from mud and debris, with an inspection carried out once all works have completed.” This work has now been undertaken and this has already made a big improvement.
Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods, who have been managing the woods since the great storm of 1987, are now planning to work with the council to replant trees and restore the paths. Group secretary Gill Taylor explained:
“Lessons will be learned from this and to make the woods more resilient a greater mix of species will be planted to increase biodiversity. This means that if a disease attacks in the future the impact to the tree canopy will not be so noticeable.
“With more light now reaching the ground we expect to see an increase in the wildflowers whose seeds have lain dormant: this will attract bees, butterflies and other insects to the woods.”
The group (of which I am a member) has already made a positive start in planting cherry plum trees in one of the woodland bays.
Let’s hope that lessons have been learnt at the council and that any future work to manage ADB or elm disease is handled more sensitively and with better communication.
For further information, see Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods Facebook on: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofHollingburyandBursteadWoodsinBrighton
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