Private Landowners Owe Derbyshire Council £100,000 for Emergency Tree Works
The Derbyshire County Council has taken emergency action to chop down hazardous trees affected by ash dieback on private land, which landowners have failed to maintain and fell. The council is now invoicing these landowners for £100,000 worth of work and will pursue legal action if necessary.
In addition, the council is owed £130,000 from private landowners who have agreed upfront for the authority to carry out felling work on their behalf and to bill them afterwards. The £100,000 works relate to the emergency felling of 100 trees on the A6 between Cromford and Matlock Bath in late November, following a tree falling during Storm Claudia that crushed a car driven by 25-year-old paramedic and mother-of-three Natalie Bowler, leaving her injured.
Specialist machinery and contractors were brought in to clear trees from a steep bank alongside the A6, while the road was closed for five days. The council is also set to close the Via Gellia road (A5012) between Cromford and Newhaven from January 27 until the end of February to fell all ash trees within 20 meters of the route, on both private land and plots owned by the authority.
The council has detailed plans to spend £2 million felling trees affected by ash dieback over the next financial year, followed by a further £1.8 million the year after. Ash dieback kills trees, making them brittle and unstable, leading to the potential for a huge number of trees to fall, posing a risk to public safety.
Councillor Carol Wood, the council's cabinet member for net zero and environment, said: 'Ash dieback disease is a serious problem. It's a relatively new disease that has spread very quickly and is now present in most parts of the United Kingdom. Ash is currently the second most common tree found in Derbyshire. We're making good progress in tackling trees on our own land which pose a danger to public safety due to this disease. Trees on private property are the responsibility of the landowner and they should monitor ash trees for symptoms of ash dieback. If a tree on their land were to injure someone or cause damage to property, then the landowner would be liable. Taking steps themselves early on not only reduces the risk but means they're in control of their own costs too.'
