Fewer trees are to be felled by Sheffield Council and private contractor Amey following talks with Sheffield Tree Action Group to end the long running dispute. Sheffield Council have put forward new plans to reduce the number of trees to be removed from Sheffield streets following a mediated dialogue chaired by the Bishop of Sheffield. Sheffield Live spoke to Councillor Lewis Bagnall, cabinet member for environment and streetscene and Paul Brooke, co-chair of Sheffield Trees Action Group.
Sheffield council have sent letters to fourteen people, including Nether Edge and Sharrow councillor Alison Teal, threatening a further injunction to prevent tree felling protests. The campaigners have been asked to give a written undertaking not to engage in tree protests in order to avoid the Council taking legal action. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Sheffield Council leader Julie Dore and chief executive John Mothersole have been in fresh talks with Sheffield Trees Action Group to address complaints about tree felling. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
Sheffield Council are seeking fresh prosecutions of tree campaigners for allegedly breaching a recent injunction relating to tree felling. Simon Crump from Myrtle Road and others were handed the legal notices today after crossing safety barriers on Meersbrook Park Road set up by council contractors undertaking tree felling works. The court injunction was issued in August to eighteen people including Councillor Alison Teal after they previously crossed safety barriers in a bid to stop the felling of trees. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Dozens of people joined a protest outside the Town Hall as part of the campaign to halt the felling of trees by Sheffield Council and contractor Amey. The protest follows a threat of legal injunction sent last week to 17 people, including Green Party councillor Alison Teal, which seeks to prevent action to disrupt Amey from carrying out their work. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Tree campaigners were out on the streets again today despite a Sheffield Council threat of injunctions to curb the protests. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
Tree planting charity, Trees for Cities, has said it is suspending all funding, support, and activity in Sheffield due to concerns with the council’s tree felling programme. The UK charity works internationally to promote greener cities and has planted more than 25,000 trees in Sheffield over the last ten years. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
https://vimeo.com/207343309
Calvin Payne, one of two protestors arrested in November for trying to prevent the felling of a 100-year-old tree, has spoken out after the Crown Prosecution Service decision to drop all charges. Simon Crump, a lecturer at Huddersfield University, and Calvin Payne, a local campaigner, were detained under trade union laws on suspicion of preventing tree surgeons from carrying out their work. The pair were due to face trial on 9 March, 2017, but were told on Friday that charges had been dropped “on the basis that it is not in the public’s interest to prosecute”. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Calvin Payne.
Two hundred people gathered outside Sheffield Town Hall to protest against the Council’s tree felling programme before a Council debate on the issue. Members of Sheffield Tree Action Group and Save Our Roadside Trees addressed protesters ahead of the full council meeting which debated a Green Party tabled motion of ‘no confidence’. Sheffield Live! reporter Sham Powell spoke with former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett.
Hundreds of people gathered on Rustlings Road on Saturday for a rally to protest against felling of trees lining Sheffield streets. The event follows the removal of eight trees on Rustlings Road in the early hours of 17 November, where three people were arrested. The council say the trees are damaging pavements which would cost £50,000 to repair, but an independent report found no “arboricultural reason” to remove all but one of the eight trees. The event was organised by the Sheffield Tree Action Group. A council spokesperson said “”We would like to offer an apology to the people of Sheffield who were affected by the way in which we took the trees down on Thursday of last week. We are sorry for the disruption and distress caused by the work starting at 5am”. Shamaan Freeman-Powell reports for Sheffield Live!