The Government has now held two COBR meetings to discuss the issue of Ash tree dieback. The Local Government Association (LGA) has been present at, and contributed to, both of these meetings and are now in a position to provide an update on this to “member councils” such as Sutton Council.

At a recent meeting the Government has committed to producing an action plan to combat the spread of the disease. This will involve further monitoring of trees by owners and managers of land, and the destruction of (only) diseased trees that have been recently planted.

Sutton Council will want to consider its role in this like all councils.

The LGA will be working to ensure that the views of those responsible for combating Ash tree dieback in council-owned parks, woodland and roadsides are taken into account in shaping the government’s action plan and we will update you on this work in due course.

More in a future posting….