Coldean Lane to be closed for six days as council chop trees

Coldean Lane will be shut for up to six days from Tuesday, June 1, to carry out "essential work" on the trees that face onto the busy road.

Many of the trees are dying of the fungal infection Ash dieback, meaning they must be removed "before they fall down".

If left alone, they could cause serious damage to people and property, Brighton and Hove City Council warned.

• READ MORE >> Hundreds of trees to be cut down as 'devastating' disease threatens city

Around 20 per cent of all woodland trees owned by the city council are ash, and so, they will be cut down to protect wildlife and people in a situation "never" been faced before.

Ahead of the closure, a spokesman said: "We realise there’s never a good time to close a busy road like this, but it was agreed between the council’s tree experts, our transport team, the bus company and the contractor that half term would cause the least disruption.

"We‘ve posted letters to what we believe is every household on the Coldean estate explaining the situation, including ways of how people can contact us and the bus company for further information.

Trees have already been chopped down in Coldean

"Signage is now in place warning of the closure, and we will also have staff on site to help with queries and assist people with mobility issues."

The city council is also seeing a rise in Elm disease amongst trees, but they say this can be contained, unlike the "devastating" Ash dieback.

The Argus has been told that the surviving Preston Twin tree is not on the list of those to be cut down, as it is an Elm tree.

In 2019, one of the Preston Park Twins was cut down due to deadly Dutch Elm Disease.

Across the country, there are 125 million ash trees in woodlands and between 27-60 million ash trees outside of woodlands.

The symptoms first become visible during early June when the leaves are first emerging.

These show themselves as wilting, and dark discolouration on the leaves with elongated lesions developing on the smaller branches.

Eventually, the whole crown will become infected with a characteristic "crown die-back" developing over the next few years.

The disease spreads via spores caught in the wind from tiny mushrooms born from the main leaf stalk and has the ability to spread over a ten miles radius within one year.

Thousands of trees across Brighton are expected to be cut down

Over longer distances, the risk of disease spread is most likely to be through the movement of diseased ash plants and foliage.

Until the work is completed, the council said it will not be issuing any new licenses for Forest Schools.

The first two sites where work has begun are Coney Hill Woods, next to Mill Road near Waterhall, and Coldean Lane.

Councillor Amy Heley, chairwoman of the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee, said there is "no alternative".

She said: “We know it will mean a great deal of distress and upset for our residents, but our tree experts, along with other specialists, will try to ensure the effects are kept to an absolute minimum, especially when it comes to the natural habitats of our wildlife.”