Issue - meetings

To provide an update on the ash dieback survey and treatment programme and on the team’s activities in general.

(i)             To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.⁠

(ii)            That the Committee consider prioritising the matter for scrutiny during 2025/26.

The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for Highways, Engineering and YGC, and the Assistant Head of the Department.

⁠Two errors were cited in the Report, correcting that 1550 high-risk trees had been felled or pruned to date compared to the figure of 710 trees as set out in paragraph 3.4 of the Report. It was further noted that second-hand evidence suggested that ash dieback disease posed less risk as time went by, in relation to the information presented at the beginning of paragraph 5.1 of the Report.

It was explained that ash dieback disease had spread to Wales since a number of years, and it had been estimated that 80% of ash trees would be adversely affected by it. It was confirmed that a team had been established in the department to deal with the challenges it caused. It was emphasised that responding to the disease was a priority on the Council's corporate risk register. It was detailed that the Council had funded an initial inspection in 2020 to see the impact of the disease in the area on the Council's tree stock.  It was acknowledged that there was a high risk as many trees had already been infected. As a result, a dedicated specialist team had been appointed to investigate the infection on the Council's roads and land.

It was reported that one of the main roles of the team was to carry out checks of the Council's tree stock on the County's roads and land. It was noted that the team carried out this work itself on occasion but also used specialist inspectors to ensure that all areas received inspections in a timely manner, emphasising that no external inspectors took action on infected trees. This was confirmed as the arrangement because the Department was responsible for approximately 3,000km of roads as well as other lands. It was explained in detail that the Department had developed a prioritisation system for carrying out inspections ensuring that the highest priority was given to ash trees that were near schools, roads, cemeteries, parks and similar locations. The team was noted as being responsible for dealing with the trees if inspections identified them as infected. It was confirmed that these would be put on the team's programme of work ensuring that the most serious cases were prioritised.

An update was shared that the Department had commissioned Gwynedd Consultancy to develop the use of drones to carry out inspections, as they could work at a much greater range than workers on foot. It was noted that results were currently very satisfactory and the hope was that this would be a method that would be used consistently to carry out tree inspections. It was elaborated that the team had been in contact with Coleg Glynllifon and pupils there had been trained at the same time as the team on the new technological methods of inspecting for the infection.

It was emphasised that the department did not fell the trees once they were infected.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8