Campaigners prevent council from felling trees visited by Gove
PROTESTERS HAVE prevented council contractors felling trees visited by Environment Secretary Michael Gove 24 hours earlier as the Minister came to the city on a fact-finding mission.
Campaigners said staff from Amey had been prevented from felling three trees on Kenwood Road, Sheffield, by people standing on private property close to those under threat. But the council said a number of activists had “chosen to trespass inside safety barriers erected around tree works” in breach of a High Court ruling banning people from doing so.
It comes after the council revealed it had spent more than £250,000 on legal action in the ongoing dispute over the removal and replacement of 6,000 street trees as part of a major road improvements programme in the city. Campaigners claim many of the tree removals are unnecessary.
Mr Gove visited the city on Wednesday to speak with campaigners and the council after previously calling on the Labourled authority to call a halt to treefelling work. Paul Selby, from Save Nether Edge Trees, said: “The first tree they came for was the one Michael Gove had said it would be ‘bonkers’ to have felled.”
He said a number of campaigners had been standing on private property to prevent tree removals, a tactic that resulted in contractors eventually abandoning their felling attempts for the day.
Coun Bryan Lodge, cabinet member for environment and street scene at Sheffield Council, said: “We are incredibly disappointed that a number of tree activists have chosen to trespass inside safety barriers erected around tree works, despite a High Court ruling stating that anyone who did so is acting unlawfully and would be in contempt of court. This will result in further court action and potential imprisonment.
“This direct action is in complete disregard of the law and furthermore, goes against the wishes of the majority of people in Sheffield who are in support of our work.”