Agenda item

(1)       The report briefed Members on the Ash Dieback (Chalarafraxinea) outbreak in Kent and the significant risk the disease presented, and the ongoing response to manage the situation.  Ash Dieback (Chalarafraxinea) was the infective phase of the cup-fungus Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus, which was named as new-to-science in 2010.  The life-cycle of the organism appeared to be that Chalara fraxinea, living on Ash leaves and shoots, developed into Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus when the leaves fell. Individual cup-fungus then produced approximately 1,500 airborne spores an hour over a period of around 2 weeks, which drifted up into the canopy, where they might alight on Ash shoots and initiate new infection. The Chalara phase was also understood to produce a less mobile form of spore, which might further infect the host and nearby trees. Once initiated, infection spread along the Ash twig and under certain circumstances, which were not fully understood, into branches and the trunk of the tree. The destructive characteristic of the fungus derived from the fact that the Chalara phase produced a fungal poison, called viridiol, which was toxic to Ash. Saplings and coppice re-growth were particularly vulnerable to Chalara attack, while stricken larger trees exhibited a heightened risk from secondary infection and environmental stress.

(2)       Since the announcement of confirmed cases in the UK in October, the outbreak had been reported widely by national and local media with much speculation as to the fate of Ash trees, suggesting that up to 95% of UK Ash trees could be affected.  A key consideration for KCC was that Ash formed a significant component of the soft estate. Therefore, the health and safety considerations attached to ensuring effective monitoring and timely arboriculture interventions, to make safe dead or ailing trees, could be significant.  A further key role for KCC would involve Trading Standards, working alongside the arboriculture industry, putting safeguards in place to ensure that “rogue traders” did not seek to profit from the outbreak.

(3)       The report was tabled at the Cabinet Committee following discussion of potential environmental and financial impacts arising from the Chalara outbreak at Corporate Management Team and its proposed inclusion within the KCC Corporate Risk Register.  Since the first cases were confirmed in Kent, KCC Emergency Planning had provided a direct link between the national response and a range of local partners, to ensure a consistent approach and single source of information.  Emergency Planning had also printed and distributed Forestry Commission Chalara public information notices to relevant KCC teams and a range of partners for installation at public open spaces across Kent. In addition, stocks had been supplied to parish clerks for display on notice boards.

(4)       Much of the activity would be informed by the Interim Chalara Control Plan issued on 6 December.  However, the scale of the problem in Kent, the influence of specific local factors and the acknowledged pioneering position in dealing with the outbreak dictated that an effective local response was sustained.  With this in mind, KCC Planning & Environment and Emergency Planning had produced a Local Action Plan (see Appendix 2) and have established working groups to facilitate the delivery of targets.

(5)    RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the potential serious consequences that the Chalara outbreak posed to the environment and economy of Kent, be noted; and

            (b)       the KCC approach outlined in the report, be endorsed.