Tree inoculation aims to tackle disease spread

A city's tree inoculation programme to tackle the spread of elm disease will begin in May, the council says.

The annual project will this year see about 1,400 elm trees in Brighton and Hove injected with an organic, non-toxic control agent designed to protect them for a year.

Brighton & Hove City Council said the programme was being expanded in its third year to include more trees in parks.

Councillor Alan Robins, cabinet member responsible for trees, said: "We carefully select important areas of the city where we know inoculations will have the greatest effect – especially when it comes to protecting some of the older and historically significant elms we have."

The council said the programme was just part of the work done to protect the city's trees, and that felling was "only ever done as a last resort" to prevent spread.

Some residents have previously complained about the disruption, as well as the environmental impact of felling trees in the city as part of plans to control the disease along with ash dieback.

Concerns have been raised about protected species and felling work destroying their breeding ground.

The inoculation programme will take about two weeks and is scheduled to start at the beginning of May.

The council says the elm trees will be injected with a biological vaccine called DutchTrig.

It contains a type of fungus which prompts a defensive response to elm disease, which is spread by the elm bark beetle.

But the council said it cannot prevent the spread through root transmission.

Areas which have been treated annually since 2023 include Old Steine, Pavilion Gardens, Victoria Gardens, Valley Gardens and The Level among others.

New areas to be treated in May are Queen's Park, Hove Park, Hove Rec, St Ann's Well Gardens, Saunders Park, Blakers Park and Wish Park.

Residents are asked to help by not buying or bringing in logs for firewood if the supplier could not guarantee that the wood wasn't elm.

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