Gove tells Sheffield to cease chopping city trees
Council vows to challenge Environment Secretary
ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY Michael Gove has made an extraordinary intervention in the Sheffield tree-felling saga, writing to council leader Julie Dore and chief executive John Mothersole to demand an end to the controversial programme. In a letter seen by The Yorkshire Post, Mr Gove warns “the destruction of thousands of mature trees from the Steel City will surely damage our children’s rightful inheritance” to an improved environment and highlights concerns about the “transparency in the decision-making process”.
Around 6,000 trees are being removed from city streets as part of a 25-year £2bn highway maintenance programme based on a PFI (private finance initiative) deal with contractor Amey.
While the council insist only trees that are dead, dying, diseased or dangerous are being removed and then replaced, protesters argue that many do not need to be chopped down and the work is being carried out as a cost-cutting exercise.
Mr Gove says: “I would call on the council to listen to the people of Sheffield and end the treefelling and replacement programme.” Mr Gove’s intervention came after The Yorkshire Post set out the ongoing concerns around the issue to him.
Dave Dillner, founder of the Sheffield Trees Action Groups, said: “I never thought I would have wanted to hug Michael Gove, I’m knocked sideways. I can only hope this is a game-changer. The pressure on the council really is mounting.”
But Sheffield Council today strongly criticised the Environment Secretary and described his letter as being “full of inaccuracies” and said “only a very small minority of people in Sheffield object to the tree replacement programme”,
Paul Billington, director of culture and environment, said: “We were surprised to receive a letter from Michael Gove that seems to call for us to breach the terms of the contract. The Government, through the Department for Transport, are party to the contract, and it was at central government’s instruction that the PFI model was used to finance this programme of work.
“The truth is that a small number of people in the city have strong views against the tree replacement programme. We respect this, but the majority of people in Sheffield want to see the work completed.
“It is surprising that the Secretary of State would not seek a full understanding of an issue before announcing a position.”
The ongoing row has previously seen 14 people arrested but the CPS subsequently dropped all the cases. In his letter, Mr Gove says: “It is clear that many of Sheffield’s residents are deeply frustrated and angry at the decision to remove a large number of trees from local streets.
“Despite the strength of local feeling, the call from local residents to end the felling appears to have gone unanswered.”
IT IS both paradoxical and perverse that such a controversial tree-felling programme should be taking place in Sheffield when it prides and promotes itself as being the UK’s premier ‘outdoor city’.
Local residents have said so. The Yorkshire Post – and others – have supported them in their long fight against officialdom. And now Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, has added his backing after the editor of this newspaper wrote to him and implored the Minister to intervene.
Noting this newspaper’s “persistent and persuasive campaigning”, the Cabinet minister’s personal letter to Sheffield Council could not be any clearer – stop the felling programme now so the “destruction of thousands of mature trees” does not “damage our children’s rightful inheritance”.
It can only be hoped that the local authority shows some humility and heeds not just Mr Gove, who is already proving to be an effective advocate for the environment, but its own ratepayers.
If it had done so in the first place, it would not have found itself presiding over this farrago of nonsense which has seen local democracy brought into disrepute by the council’s heavy-handedness at a time when the natural environment has never mattered more.
Of course, there will be dead, dying, diseased or dangerous trees that need to be removed and replaced. For the record, such occurrences happen in every parish, town and city. Yet, if other authorities, large and small, can manage this process without involving the police and the courts as the elderly are rounded up, why isn’t this possible in Sheffield?
The council’s arrogance and actions, thus far, suggest this programme is part of a cost-cutting programme, all the more reason for Mr Gove to now ask the National Audit Office to investigate the terms of the authority’s 25-year £2bn highway maintenance programme with contractor Amey which is at the centre of this scandal. There now needs to be total transparency – the public interest demands nothing less.
In the meantime, Mr Gove’s understanding, and intervention, is indicative of what is possible when grassroots campaigners do work with trusted media organisations like The Yorkshire Post to hold the political establishment to account, whether it be locally, regionally or nationally. It would be prudent for Sheffield Council to heed this before it digs itself into an even bigger hole.