Tree-felling halted over assault claims
ENVIRONMENT: Tree-felling work in Sheffield has been temporarily paused after clashes during protests. Police have received allegations of assaults from both demonstrators and staff working for contractors.
CONTROVERSIAL TREE-FELLING work in Sheffield has been temporarily paused after clashes during protests against the policy.
South Yorkshire Police has received allegations of assaults from both demonstrators and staff working for city council contractor Amey, which is involved in the removal and replacement of thousands of street trees in the city as part of a £2.2bn Streets Ahead highways improvement project for Sheffield City Council.
There have been repeated clashes in Meersbrook Park Road for more than a week. It comes after Amey brought in a “specially trained stewarding team” to remove protesters from inside safety zones around trees that were due to be felled earlier this month.
Some 20 trees on the road were referred to an Independent Tree Panel set up by the council which said 11 could be saved through engineering works. But Sheffield Council overturned the decision on nine of the trees.
A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said: “We have received a number of allegations of assault in relation to this matter. Police are now reviewing these reports. Enquiries are ongoing.”
Streets Ahead account director Darren Butt said work had now been stopped on a temporary basis because of concerns about staff safety.
“We welcome safe and peaceful protest but unfortunately this is not what we experienced in Meersbrook Park Road on Monday.
“In the interests of everyone’s safety we withdrew from site, and we will resume as soon as we can ensure the safety of our staff, local people and the protesters themselves.
“Replanting certain street trees which are ailing or damaging is one of the ways we deliver the council’s legal duty to maintain the city’s highways, which is why a High Court injunction is in place to keep our working areas safe.
“We urge people to respect peaceful communities and not to wilfully obstruct our works on the highway by staying outside the safety zones, so we can complete this programme for the benefit of everyone in Sheffield.”
About 5,500 trees have been removed and replaced with saplings in the city since 2012 but campaigners argue that many of the removals are unnecessary.
Tree campaigners have alleged that Amey staff have been using force against demonstrators.
Paul Brooke, a member of the Save Gleadless Valley Trees Group, said: “The harder Amey push, the more determined we all become to oppose this destruction.”