Sheffield Council has confirmed a U-turn on plans to fell the war memorial trees which line Weston Road, following a campaign by local residents. According to Councillor Lewis Dagnall, 32 trees will now be saved out of the 35 that were earmarked to be cut down as part of the Streets Ahead project to repair roads and improve footpaths across the city. The decision has been welcomed by campaigners. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Resident and campaigners are calling on Sheffield Council to re-examine plans to cut down trees on Western Road planted to honour soldiers killed in the First World War. Ninety-six trees were planted in 1919. Sixty remain including 23 planted in memory of a group of young soldiers who attended nearby Westways primary school and were killed in the war. The site is still a registered war memorial and the group ‘Western Road Remembers’ has been set up to protect the memorial. Western Road is the latest road earmarked for tree felling after recent protest and arrests in Nether Edge and on Rustlings Road. Protestors Calvin Payne and Simon Crump, arrested in Nether Edge, will return to court for a full hearing in March 2017. Sheffield Live! reporter Simon Thake spoke with Western Road Remembers campaigner, Alan Story.