The extremely hot weather of late has now served the death sentence on any chance (without a major injection of cash), of saving the remaining elm trees in the so-called East Sussex DED Control Area. The heat will have enabled the elm bark beetles to have multiplied substantially in recent weeks. The Control Area is on recent observation, littered with dead and dying trees.
The ‘savings’ from the current set-up, ignoring advice that it would not work, are far out-weighed by the gross failure and the expenses now accumulating in attempting to deal with DED. Importantly, we are now losing many of our tallest and oldest elms; at least two of the previous four magnificent specimen elms in Alfriston village centre are now dying.
One would have thought, with an estimation that it may cost as much as £25M to fell all the street elms and replant in Brighton, Seaford and Eastbourne, this might have chastened ESCC to bite the bullet and not go for the cheap, short-term option which seems to be the current objective. On current performance – or lack of, this is now simply pouring good money after bad. With the fight in effect now given up in the ESCC Control Area, there is now an extremely serious threat to the ‘National Elm Collection’ situated within Brighton and the threat of the huge costs alluded to above.
One consideration that ESCC should (in collaboration with neighbouring authorities) seriously and urgently look into, is making use of outside funding. One avenue being pursued is persuading The Conservation Foundation to use National Lottery money to inject fungicide into the remaining specimen trees in the East Sussex/Brighton area. This is not the answer to the afore mentioned facts but could at least salvage something from this mess.
I have asked that at the next County Council Cabinet meeting, that the following questions be raised:
1. What are the future intentions of East Sussex County Council in view of the current parlous state of the East Sussex Dutch Elm Control Area?
2. Are there currently any joint contingency discussions taking place between the County Council and the Brighton and Eastbourne authorities as to how to protect their respective street elms?
3. Would the County Council support and co-operate with The Conservation Foundationís initiative should it come to fruition?
POSTSCRIPT: ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE ‘BRIGHTON ARGUS’ on WED. AUGUST 7 2013.