Council admits costs of Sheffield tree protests should fall on PFI firm
Authority had said delays could be ‘catastrophic’
SHEFFIELD COUNCIL has admitted the controversial contract being used to fell thousands of trees in the city states the authority is not liable for extra costs caused by protesters – days after it was claimed the actions of campaigners had put it at risk of “catastrophic financial consequences”.
But the council said that PFI contractor Amey may still seek to recover costs it has incurred from the public purse.
Campaigners unhappy with the Streets Ahead programme to remove and replace 6,000 of the city’s 36,000 street trees as part of highways improvements had been standing directly under trees to prevent them being chopped down. After the council won injunctions to prevent such protests last week, Coun Bryan Lodge said the council had “a responsibility to the taxpayers of Sheffield to do everything we can to avoid catastrophic financial consequences if the Streets Ahead work is not completed by the end of the year”. But an examination of the Streets Ahead contract by The
Yorkshire Post showed the terms state any loss of income relating to protests should be borne by Amey and not the council. A Sheffield Council spokesman said: “The contract suggests these should be costs to Amey. However, the council is at risk of Amey seeking recovery of some or all of these costs from the council.”
SHEFFIELD COUNCIL faces no monetary penalty for protesters delaying the removal of trees under the terms of its controversial Street Ahead agreement with contractor Amey – despite claiming the actions of campaigners had left it in danger of “catastrophic financial consequences”.
After winning a High Court case allowing them to ban campaigners from standing directly under trees to prevent them being felled, Councillor Bryan Lodge said last week that the court action had been a “last resort” to stop delays to the programme, which involves the removal and replacement of 6,000 street trees.
Coun Lodge then told BBC Radio Sheffield the penalty to the council “could be into millions”.
But it can now revealed the Streets Ahead contract between Sheffield Council and Amey states it is the company and not the local authority that is liable for the cost of delays relating to protesters.
Under the heading ‘Responsibility for Protestors and Trespassers’, the contract states: “The authority shall not be responsible for any protestor or trespasser or for any act, omission or default of any such person during the term.” It adds: “The service provider shall bear, without recourse to the authority, any loss suffered by any person which is caused by any protestor or trespasser, including any damage to any property, any personal injury or death and any loss of income.”
Sheffield Council today said while the contract does suggest the costs relating to protesters should be carried by Amey, “the situation is extremely complex” and the firm may seek to recover costs from the authority.
It said other delays have been caused by the council establishing an Independent Tree Panel to advise on felling decisions, as well as ordering removals not to take place before 7am in the wake of a controversial pre-dawn operation to remove trees on Rustlings Road, which resulted in three arrests.
The council said last week that the court ruling would allow it to “accelerate” the removal of 500 trees that it says need to be felled by New Year as part of the ‘Core Investment’ stage of the 25year £2.2bn PFI contract to make highway improvements across the city.
But a spokesman for Sheffield Council said today: “There are many contractual issues if the Core Investment Programme isn’t delivered on time. This programme is the first part of the
Amey has incurred major costs resulting from protester actions. Spokesman, Sheffield City Council.
25-year contract and is when the bulk of the upgrade work takes place.
“Precise estimates have not been made about the cost of any delays but the scale of the costs are unaffordable for the council when its budgets are under so much pressure.
“We know that some of the costs of delay result from council decisions such as the Independent Tree Panel, delays on specified streets or the decision not to start before 7am. These costs will have to be met by the council. Beyond that, Amey has incurred major costs resulting from protester actions. The contract suggests these should be costs to Amey. However, the situation is extremely complex and we have said that the council is at risk of Amey seeking recovery of some or all of these costs from the council, meaning the council and its taxpayers are at risk.”