Feared ash tree disease confirmed in Berkshire

In a statement yesterday afternoon (Wednesday), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said cases of the tree disease Chalara have been confirmed in woodland in Berkshire, Sussex, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northumberland after an unprecedented survey of Britain’s established woodlands.
The disease has now been confirmed in 115 sites (up from 83 at the weeken) in 15 nurseries, 39 planting sites and 61 locations in the wider environment (forests and woodlands). No details as to the precise location of the Berkshire outbreak have been confirmed.
The Defra statement said that the instances of Chalara were being discovered as a result of a rapid and intensive surveying operation carried out over the course of last weekend and the beginning of this week. And it continued “the discovery of the disease in these counties does not mean the disease is spreading rapidly. It is likely that the disease has been present in these areas for a number of years, originally caused by spores blown in from mainland Europe.”
The Chalara fraxinea fungus causes leaf loss and crown dieback and can lead to tree death.
It has already wiped out 90% of ash trees in Denmark in seven years and is becoming widespread throughout central Europe.
Speaking earlier in the day, before the Government announcement, Newbury MP, Mr Richard Benyon defended the coalition Government’s track record against some critics who have claimed that what was being done to halt the spread was too little, too late.
He said: “We have acted on all the evidence presented to us.
“We were criticised by trade bodies which said we were acting too hastily when we were burning saplings over the summer.
“It seems to me that most organisations we’re dealing with accept we’re dealing with it as fast and as best we can.
“If you love trees, as I do, it would be easy to let yourself be talked into despair but that’s not going to happen – we’re determined to eradicate where we can and to live with it where we can’t.”
Chalara fraxinea is being treated as a quarantine pest under national emergency measures, and it is important that suspected cases of the disease are reported to Defra.
If you have any information as to where in Berkshire the affected trees are or if you or your business have been affected by the disease, please contact john.garvey@newburynews.co.uk