SHEFFIELD- Watching your much loved, healthy ‘Street Trees’ felled right in front of your eyes...
Standing by watching your much loved, perfectly healthy, Street Trees being felled right in front of your eyes is pretty hard to take, but for the people of Sheffield,- people like Dave Dillner chair of Sheffield Trees Action Group , STAG – it is an all to common occurrence these days, in the city that once proudly boasted that it was the ‘Greenest City in Europe’… Not any more its not.
So it was on the 10th of December 2015, a good eight days AFTER the City Council had promised that ALL FELLLING HAD STOPPED, - A message that Council Cheif Exec. Julie Dore also repeated to me on live BBC Radio Sheffield the day after - that I found my self standing in Humphrey Road in the Greenhill area of the city.
We had been ‘alerted’, by the now, ever increasing network of Tree Lookouts, that there were felling teams in the area. We rushed over to Greenhill, and, not too sure exactly where Humphrey road was we stopped, got out of the car and listened. ’Over there’! We were off again…
At the top end of Humphrey Road there just happened to be an AMEY – (Labour controlled) Sheffield City Council’s PFI contractor - car parked at the top end of this inclined road. Other AMEY (Ferrovial) vehicles had the boast emblazoned down their sides…’Making Sheffield Greener’. I wondered if they’d had a job lot of Green paint delivered, because that is the only way that would happen with this ‘Streets Ahead’ PFI contract that the council have gotten themselves into.
We parked up and I took out my camera and started filming. Walking and talking as I made my way down sloping Humphrey Road. Half a dozen trees were still standing, totally de-nuded of branches, standing like condemned men tied to a posts waiting to be shot.
See More Humphrey Rd Trees HERE > https://www.flickr.com/photos/14919622@N02/albums/72157660141997054
I could not believe what I was seeing. Dave could not follow me. The toll on him and the many amazing campaigners is taking its toll!
As I passed each bare tree I could see that there seemed to be no decay in these trees, they were not dying trees, they were not diseased, they certainly were not dangerous, nor were they what the council like to call when it suits them, discriminatory trees and they did not appear to be damaging trees. So none of the councils 6D’s seemed to be in evidence, and yet, here they were being felled like dominies in front of the resident’s eyes. One tree was covered in ivy so it is possible there were problems I could not see.
I came closer to the current victim, trying so hard not to swear on camera. I failed! But have used beeps to hide my failings in the film.
it was obscene, Urban Arboreal Vandalism.
I walked on and was told by one of the arborists to, ‘Stay over there’ which I did. The hard working and skilled arborists were trying to fell a Plane tree safely and efficiently. I did not want to distract them nor did I blame them. They are only doing their job and trying to earn a living. They are not the decision makers in this whole mess.
One of the arborists tried to topple the tree by hitting the wedge in the saw cut; the tree wobbled, but did not fall, he pushed it, still the same. The other arborist now came again with the chainsaw…slowly, the tree started to waver and then like in a slow motion film it tipped slowly to begin with then THUD! It came crashing down on to the pavement. What seemed to me, a perfectly healthy tree felled.
I went over to chat to the arborists but they did not speak to me as they are now instructed not to talk to the public or any campaigners.
I inspected the tree and took photographs of a totally solid, no decay, stump and butt. I was almost speechless. You will have to watch the film to see for yourself.
I remember whilst filming that I talked of our UK hypocrisy at condemning recent destruction of rainforests around the world and yet here we are destroying our own Urban Forest and I ask again for what reason?
Now don’t get me wrong I have felled trees… when thinning out woodlands, when ‘haloing ancient crowded out trees in woodlands, I have coppiced trees and pollarded trees. All of these are sustainable traditional tree management techniques going back thousands of years. But I can honestly say that I have never felled a tree just for… for what you may ask? What reason are AMEY and the City Council felling up to EIGHTEEN THOUSAND STREET TREES? – 50% of Sheffield’s Street trees stock - you might ask. The residents have tried to ask. They have been refused repeatedly for Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests about the fellings and the £2.2 BILLION 25 year PFI contract.
I will admit gladly that much needed road and pavement repairs are being carried out, much to the satisfaction of the majority of Sheffield folks. It has been long overdue. It is only when you see what is happening to the Street Trees that you realise where sadly; it is not only corners that are being cut!
The first five years of this contract are the main years when this felling will take place and as you can imagine if up to eighteen thousand street trees are felled then the on-going maintenance costs will be significantly reduced equalling more profit. Because initially the cost of felling and stump grinding and making good these street trees is far more than the cost of management pruning which is what should be happening.
Again, I realise that out of 38,000 street trees, there will be quite a few trees – not 18,000 though - that need to be felled, but already AMEY have felled nearly 4,000 trees and from what I have heard and now seen for myself I am NOT confident that that many trees fell within their 6D’s policy. A policy by the way that they – the City Council & AMEY - seem to regularly ignore, bend, twist and then RANDOMLY fell trees that suits there hidden agenda.
What is happening in the last few days is that trees that were previously classified as safe are now being RE-CLASSIFIED as, yes you got it…DANGEROUS! Their policy is in disarray. This shows yet again a Council and contractor desperate to meet quotas, desperate to make profit, desperate to totally destroy the character of once beautiful tree lined City.
The recent COP21 Climate Change agreement made between world leaders in Paris recognised the role that trees can play in trying to alleviate many of the modern day problems that we face. Reducing flooding, improving air quality, quality of life, mental health benefits etc
So I do wonder just how long it is before a hilly Sheffield suffers the effects of these mass felling’s and the loss of so much water retention capability, along with the increase in air pollution and the rise of respiratory problems causing deaths of the vulnerable, as is the ever increasing case around the globe.
Sheffield is now in the midst of an UNPRECEDENTED phase of Street Tree felling. Nothing on this scale has ever been seen before in an urban environment in a UK city. CONSULTATION from Sheffield City Council &n AMEY PLC has been a total shambles and MAY be in breach of European Legislation. - The Aarhaus Convention only time will tell.
For now I am sickened by what I witnessed, sickened to the bottom of my heart. At the same time I am enthused and motivated greatly by the super folks of Sheffield that have been fighting this unjust and plain wrong campaign of street tree felling. The City Council should be ashamed of themselves and of the terrible destructive planet harming legacy they have invoked. If Corbyn wants to get my vote and that of many Sheffielder’s, then he better get himself up the M1 pronto to sort this whole debacle out!
Rob McBride - Tree hunter
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