Derbyshire council has announced a major road in the county is to be closed at various points for the felling of trees suffering from ash dieback disease which poses a safety risk for motorists and is creating an additional budgetary pressure, according to the authority’s finance chief.
The A5012 Via Gellia road between Cromford and Newhaven will be closed at various points by Derbyshire County Council from Monday, January 27, for the felling of trees blighted by ash dieback.
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Service and the Budget, Cllr Simon Spencer, of the cash-strapped county council, has stated that the council is on track to achieve £31.3m of savings by the end of the current 2024-25 financial year but it is facing further budget saving proposals for 2025-26 totalling £18.6m.
And he has stated that tree removal costs are among many of the budgetary pressures faced by the council, which it claims are beyond its control, with the main budgetary concerns particularly being around adults and children’s social care.
Cllr Spencer said: “There are major pressures with ash dieback and removing trees which will cost tax-payers.”
Work by the county council’s contractors to clear trees, from both land that the council is responsible for and privately owned land, will continue until the end of February, 2025.
Sections of the road will be closed completely to traffic on weekdays between 8am and 4pm and onsite signage will advertise the sections of closures and show access or diversions to communities as the work progresses.
The council stated that overnight one lane will be open with traffic lights in place.
It explained that many of the ash trees along the Via Gellia have become infected which causes decay under the bark making them brittle and prone to falling in high winds with the possibility of deadwood also falling into the road and causing a safety risk.
The tree felling will involve removing all ash trees within 20 metres of each side of the road because those few currently unaffected would be very likely to succumb in the future as agreed with Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment, Cllr Carolyn Renwick, said: “Ash dieback is a blight across the whole country and Derbyshire is particularly hard hit due to our limestone environments which is favoured by ash trees.
“The steep valley sides of the Grange Valley have offered protection from wind and rain making the Via Gellia ideal conditions for the disease to grow.
“The badly diseased trees are a threat to road users and we’re taking action jointly to remove that threat before the nesting season begins.
“Due to the vast area of trees affected, it means land along the route will look very different once the tree-felling has taken place. Replacement trees will be planted in winter 2025-26.
“We’re grateful that many landowners on the Via Gellia have chosen to work with us to help minimise disruption and costs for all involved.”
The council is supporting landowners who have a legal responsibility to remove diseased trees on their land and it is coordinating tree removal as part of a plan to clear affected trees on county council-owned land.
Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, Cllr Charlotte Cupit, said: “This is a substantial task which will involve felling diseased trees within 20 metres of each side of the road.
“We realise that the road closures will cause some temporary inconvenience for road users, but to try to reduce this disruption, we’ll be closing sections of the road in phases to minimise disruption as much as possible.
“We will advertise the rolling phased closures on site and on our website once confirmed with the council’s contractor and we aim to have the work completed as quickly as possible.”
For more information and regular updates about which sections of the road are closed people are being invited to visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/viagellia for details.
The council has stated Local Government needs more Labour Government funding to continue providing vital services and it has expressed disappointment that insufficient new money has been made available to help councils pay for areas such as children’s services where there has been an unprecedented increase in costs.
Cllr Spencer has also expressed doubts about how much money will be made available from the Government for the county’s highways but he says the Cabinet has made a clear judgement to protect the highways budget from any reduction.
