Owners of ash near roads and lanes
If your ash is within falling distance of a road, lane or footpath, keeping it safe is your legal responsibility, not the council's or anybody else's.
Owner's guide
Ash dieback on your land: what owners need to do
Ash dieback is a fungal disease that kills ash trees from the crown down, and it's recently being found all across Hampshire. If it's growing on your land, keeping it safe is your responsibility. On this page, we'll show you how to spot the disease, what the law expects of owners, what the Hampshire County Council advises, and how the council has treated ash applications this year.
Is this you?
Who this guide is for
Gardens with a declining ash
This means trees with thinning crowns, dead tips and bare branches in summer, over a house, drive, play area or parking space.
After a storm
Split limbs, branches hung up in the crown, leaning trees and lifted root plates. These need making safe before anyone tidies up underneath them.
Fungus at the base
Bracket fungi on the trunk or roots can mean internal decay. A Sparsholt ash with decay and a bracket fungus was approved for a 2–3m reduction by Winchester City Council in February 2026.
Paddock and woodland owners
Field-edge and woodland ash beside rights of way, where several trees may need assessing and a felling licence may apply.
Buyers and sellers
A view on a large tree near the house before you commit, so it doesn't become a surprise after completion.
Ash dieback in Hampshire
How to spot ash dieback
Ash dieback is caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Hampshire County Council expects the UK to lose around 80% of its ash trees, and infected trees unfortunately do usually die, though a few are showing some resistance!
Signs are easiest to see in mid to late summer:
- Dead branches and bare tips in the crown.
- Blackened leaves hanging limply.
- Diamond-shaped lesions on the stems.
- Limbs dropping, or the whole tree failing.
Check it's really ash first. Rowan, also called mountain ash, is a different tree and doesn't get the disease.
The 326-metre figure
Hampshire County Council's highways team has surveyed roadside ash since 2018. On primary routes it found, on average, a significant ash tree (trunk over 20cm across) within falling distance of the road every 326 metres.
Most of those trees are privately owned, and the council is clear that landowners have a legal duty to maintain them. Owners should inspect ash trees closely and remove any that pose a hazard, especially next to highways.
What to do
Monitor, reduce or fell?
Hampshire County Council advises against felling healthy ash just in case, because some trees show resistance and ash supports a lot of wildlife. A diseased mature ash only needs removing if it poses a significant safety risk.
In practice, the decision turns on two things: how much of the crown has died back, and what's underneath it.
| Situation | Usually |
|---|---|
| Light dieback, nothing much underneath | Monitor each summer |
| Some dead limbs over a garden or path | Remove deadwood, reduce, monitor |
| Heavy dieback near a road, house or path | Fell |
| Already dropping limbs | Make safe now |
Permissions for dangerous trees
Dead or dangerous trees still need the council told if they're protected. Winchester City Council asks for at least five days' notice with a photo by email, instead of a full application. Take photos before any work as evidence of the tree's condition.
Ash cases in Winchester City Council's 2026 decisions:
- Six ash with dieback felled in Hursley's conservation area: no objection (July).
- A dead ash removed in central Winchester: no objection (January).
- A decaying ash in Sparsholt reduced by 2–3m rather than felled: permitted (February).
- An application to fell a protected ash with dieback in Denmead was withdrawn before a decision (January).
Other things the council asks
- Report suspected cases to the Forestry Commission's Tree Alert service.
- Compost leaves from infected ash at home or put them in general waste, not the green waste bin.
- Replant with alternative species where you can.
This guide is well-informed general advice, based on published guidance from Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council. It isn't official legal advice. If you're unsure of your legal position, check with the council or a solicitor.
Worried about an ash tree? Send us a photo
Email a photo of the tree, your postcode and where it stands (over a house, drive, road or footpath), and we'll come back to you with next steps.
Email info@sparsholttreesurgeon.co.uk