Tree-felling ‘pause’ blamed on protesters
Sheffield Council in deeper hole
SHEFFIELD COUNCIL has blamed the “increasingly dangerous tactics” of campaigners as it confirmed hugely controversial work to fell thousands of the city’s trees has been partly put on hold following growing street protests and major political pressure.
The announcement follows several weeks in which dozens of police officers have been accompanying private security guards to felling operations, with almost 20 protesters arrested. Police wearing riot gear were deployed earlier this month to remove one protester who was crouching under a partially raised truck due to be used in a tree-felling operation. A 73-year-old retired fireman was arrested on suspicion of witness intimidation of a security guard in relation to a previous assault allegation, while last week a woman was arrested for blowing a toy horn under the Public Order Act.
The following day, a vicar carrying a tambourine and a woman with a pink recorder were arrested, one for obstructing the highway and the other on suspicion of obstructing a constable.
On Friday, Environment Secretary Michael Gove warned of potential government intervention while The Yorkshire Post revealed that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was supporting calls by his Shadow Environment Secretary Sue Hayman for the work to be paused and talks to take place between the council and campaigners.
Sheffield Council was forced to reveal earlier this month that its contract with Amey contains a target to replace 17,500 of the city’s 36,000 street trees by 2037.
After the news that the work was to be temporarily ‘paused’ became public yesterday lunchtime, campaigners said they hoped negotiations could begin.
But a statement issued by Sheffield Council last night said work was only being put on hold so Amey could review how felling is conducting. It said the move follows “increasingly dangerous tactics” from campaigners and added trees deemed to be dangerous will still be removed as the review takes place. No timescale has been given for how long the ‘pause’ will last and Amey has not commented.
A council spokeswoman said: “Since 2012 we have been carrying out the biggest investment Sheffield’s highway network has ever seen, resurfacing the majority of roads and pavements across the city. However, in the past year or so the actions of a handful of people unlawfully entering the safety zones where tree replacement work is being carried out has meant that it has become increasingly difficult for Amey to complete the programme without danger to staff and members of the public.
“Given the increasingly dangerous tactics that have been seen in recent months, Amey have had to employ security staff at tree replacement sites. In the interests of both residents and staff, Amey are exploring options for completing the work and will present these options to the council. During this review period, only trees which are dangerous will be worked on. Any necessary emergency work will continue to be carried out in this time and the wider programme will resume once this review is complete.”
The council says the trees that are felled are either dead, dying, diseased, dangerous, damaging to the highway or ‘discriminatory’ – affecting the ability of people to use the pavement. But campaigners argue felling is being carried out for contractual reasons. Sheffield Council insists the 17,500 figure contained in the contract is not a target and it currently estimates 10,000 trees will be replaced.
THE PRAGMATISTS might have hailed Sheffield City Council’s decision to suspend its tree-felling programme as a victory for common sense after this act of environmental vandalism earned national notoriety.
Meanwhile, the more cynical will point to the suspension’s timing, and how the ruling Labour group, headed by the embattled council leader Julie Dore, could simply be looking to stem the protests until after the local elections on May 3.
It’s neither. By appearing to blame the “increasingly dangerous tactics” of protesters, Sheffield Council is both misguided and totally oblivious to the late Labour peer Denis Healey’s ‘first law of holes’. “When you’re in one, stop digging,” the former Chancellor once ventured.
The authority’s shortsightedness – coupled with overzealous policing on the part of the equally troubled South Yorkshire Police force – has been nothing short of scandalous. Its continued obfuscation over the £2.2bn highways maintenance deal with private-sector contractor Amey has brought the city, and council, into disrepute. And, despite calls from Environment Secretary Michael Gove, his Labour counterpart Sue Hayman and many others to think again, Coun Dore – and her team – have stubbornly refused to do so.
Given this particular ‘pause’ is not the olive branch that so many had been seeking as relations between the council and local communities deteriorate, the onus is now back on Mr Gove and Ms Hayman. At the very least, arborists need to be brought in to carry out a root-andbranch review of this policy to help councillors see the proverbial wood from the trees. For, if this had already happened, residents would not be taking to the streets in such numbers to highlight the difference between healthy trees which are being felled – and those which deserve the chop because they’re diseased and dangerous.