Ash dieback in the Midlands

We're committed to protecting the natural environment that surrounds our roads. We're responsible for 30,000 hectares of land and we want to foster a rich biodiversity across our soft estate.

Trees are a very important part of this, whether we plant them ourselves or they're growing naturally on our land.

We manage trees on our land through their whole lifecycle, to control safety risk and maximise their environmental value. This is why our tree specialists carry out regular inspections for safety and general woodland management.

We also have a legal obligation to ensure our strategic road network remains safe to road users and the trees in our care do not pose a hazard to adjacent property.

Regrettably, surveys by our specialists have found many ash trees are suffering from ash dieback disease. A large proportion are now dead or dying and pose a potential safety risk, leaving us with no alternative other than to make them safe or remove them.

Ash dieback is a highly destructive fungal disease of ash trees. It causes leaf loss, dead branches and canopy decline in infected trees.

What are we doing to address ash dieback?

Over the coming weeks and months, we'll remove or make safe ash trees identified for urgent action on our woodland estate in the Midlands to manage ash dieback disease. Care of our woodland is an ongoing process and further works will be needed in winter to address trees which are currently infected but assessed as requiring less urgent action.

While we're working in the area, we'll also carry out routine woodland management works to improve the condition of the woodland plots and encourage diversity and fresh growth in the coming years. Where appropriate we will replant suitable native trees or shrubs such as hazel and hawthorn. Some areas will be left to regenerate naturally. The waste timber and most of the woodchip will be sent for processing by local timber merchants.