Millions of Northumberland ash trees dying due to disease, warns councillor

Cllr Richard Dodd has warned that up to 90% of the county’s ash trees – which make up a significant proportion of all of the hardwood trees in Northumberland – could be killed off by Ash Dieback disease.

The Woodland Trust say the fungal infection originated in Asia, but has devastated European ash populations since its introduction 30 years ago.

The fungus overwinters in leaf litter on the ground, particularly on ash leaf stalks. It produces small white fruiting bodies between July and October which release spores into the surrounding atmosphere.

These spores can blow tens of miles away. They land on leaves, stick to and then penetrate into the leaf and beyond. The fungus then grows inside the tree, eventually blocking its water transport systems, causing it to die.

The trust say native ash species have no natural defences against the fungus.

Cllr Dodd, who is a farmer and represents the Ponteland North ward, is calling for urgent action.

He said: “We’re going to lose about 30, 40% of the trees we see. It won’t affect the pine forests but around 40% of our hardwood trees are ash trees, and probably more in certain areas.

“Our landscape is going to change dramatically. Some of the trees are already dead, and most people don’t know about it. Only 5% of the ash trees will survive.

“In a couple of years time, we will have a big, big problem. Ash trees are everywhere. I want people to come up with a solution.”

The Woodland Trust has said it is aiming to retain as many “potentially tolerant” ash trees as possible, but is also allowing nature to “take its course” and allow diseased ash trees to decline.

However, a year after widespread powercuts caused by Storm Arwen, Cllr Dodd is concerned that, in the event of another storm, Ash Dieback could cause even greater chaos.

The issue is worsened by the fact that tree felling machines are built for pine trees, which are straight.

Ash trees are, as Coun Dodd puts it, “higgledy-piggledy”, meaning they have to be cut down by hand.

He continued: “The problem we will have is if there’s another storm, the trees die from the middle and they will become hollow. If we get a big wind, they will all get down.

“There are power lines, there’s phone lines, never mind the roads – they will be blocked on a massive scale. We have got some time, but not a lot of time.

“They are big trees and there are a lot of them. They’re all going to come down, or be taken down. In Northumberland, you will be talking two or three million trees.

“Even if we pulled the army in, we would still never get them all down. To take a big tree down by hand is a big job.”

The Woodland Trust advises the public to clean footwear before and after visiting woods in order to stop the spread, as well as car and bike wheels. Visitors to the countryside should also avoid taking cuttings or plant material.