Agenda item

Tree Felling on Rustlings Road (1)

6.1

RESOLVED: On the motion of Councillor Peter Rippon and seconded by Councillor Olivia Blake, that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.1, the order of business as published on the Council Summons be altered, as Notice of Motion 7 had generated significantly increased attendance by members of the public and it was therefore deemed appropriate to take this motion as the next item of business.

6.2

It was moved by Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, and seconded by Councillor Adam Hanrahan, that this Council:-

(a)       notes with regret the actions of the Council in relation to the Rustlings Road trees on 17th November 2016;

(b)       believes the actions of the Council were wholly disproportionate and unfitting in a modern, open liberal democracy;

(c)        believes that night-time visits from the police to be appropriate for the direst emergencies or other extreme circumstances, and recognises that being woken up by police officers in the early hours of the morning would be very distressing for anyone;

(d)       condemns the use of offences in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, intended to limit aggressive picketing, against public spirited citizens exercising their right of peaceful protest;

(e)       regrets the Administration’s persistent refusal to have regard to the concerns of communities and be open to alternative solutions to felling healthy trees, including a 16,000 strong petition brought to Full Council;

(f)        believes that taxpayers money that has been spent on tree forums, independent tree panel reports (which have largely been ignored) and the Rustlings Road police operations, negates any financial argument for felling healthy mature roadside trees;

(g)       condemns the decision to fell the trees on Rustlings Road in defiance of the advice of the Independent Tree Panel and the public demands that trees be saved, and the late release of the report until only approximately 15 minutes before the tree felling commenced;

(h)       acknowledges and cautiously welcomes the apology by the Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor Bryan Lodge, for the way in which the Rustlings Road felling was carried out, however, believes the apology only touches on the way the Rustlings Road felling was carried out, rather than the underlying issues which led to the event;

(i)         is saddened by the proliferation of negative press coverage for Sheffield and this Council in the national media, with the episode being branded “rotten”, “preposterous” and a “disaster”; and

(j)         believes that the actions and attitude of the Administration over tree felling has led to a feeling of mistrust for this city’s elected representatives and a lack of faith in process for many Sheffield people across the city.

6.3

Whereupon it was moved by Councillor Bryan Lodge, and seconded by Councillor Tony Downing, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the addition of the following words:-

(a)       reiterates the apology that has been made for the way in which the work to replace trees on Rustlings Road was carried out, and recognises that the Council has apologised for the mistakes that were made;

(b)       believes it was right for the Council to apologise for the disruption and distress caused by knocking on people’s doors at 5am and the decision not to publish the Independent Tree Panel (ITP) report in advance;

(c)        welcomes that the apology included specific commitments that the Council will publish the Independent Tree Panel reports in a timely manner, with full and transparent information about how decisions have been reached, and the assurances that no work will begin before 7am;

(d)       fully supports the right of campaigners to continue to peacefully protest and, at the same time, believes that peaceful protests should not put the safety of the workforce who are doing their job, or the public, at risk;

(e)       continues to support the Streets Ahead Project, which is the biggest investment in Sheffield’s highway network that the city has ever seen, which was originally funded by the previous Labour Government;

(f)        recalls that plans to replace highway trees as part of the project were drawn up by Liberal Democrat Councillors when they were in control of the Council in a 2008 Cabinet Report detailing the scope of services to be included in the project and in a 2009 specification document drawn up for potential bidders for the contract, which included a forward from the then Leader of the Council, Councillor Paul Scriven;

(g)       continues to agree with the proposals put forward in the October 2008 and April 2009 documents relating to highway trees, the April 2009 document stating that “A significant improvement in the standard of tree maintenance will be required, with large numbers of over-mature trees being replaced by more appropriate species, and others pruned, crowned or otherwise maintained in a safe condition. The Authority will require the overall number of highway trees across the City to be sustained at current levels and the highway tree stock returned to a more balanced age-profile during the course of the Project”;

(h)       confirms that since the Streets Ahead Project started, more highway trees have been replanted in the city than removed, and the purpose of this work is as stated in the Tree Management Strategy to “ensure the street tree population is maintained and improved throughout the contract term to create a legacy of a healthy, diverse tree stock in terms of age, profile and species, reducing the risk of monocultures, whilst ensuring the safety of the highway user and adjacent properties”;

(i)         further confirms the following from the 2012-2017 Tree Management Strategy “The removal of street trees will only be considered as a last resort where there are no other reasonably practicable management options available to ensure safety or prevent damage to surrounding structures. Removals will only be specified by suitably qualified and experienced surveyors and, where necessary, additional decay detection equipment will be used to confirm any recommendations. All trees removed will be replaced on a one for one basis the following planting season (November to March)”;

(j)         recognises that proposals around the replacement of trees on a number of streets have raised further issues because of their status as World War I memorial trees;

(k)        notes that one of these streets is Western Road, where the consultation closes on 9th December, and that Councillors Craig Gamble Pugh and Anne Murphy have been consulting with their constituents on this road to raise awareness about the surveys; and

(l)         commits to engaging with stakeholders such as the Sheffield Community Covenant and War Memorials Trust when considering the Council’s response to advice from the Independent Tree Panel, if and when the residents of Western Road decide to ask the ITP to re-examine the proposals, and commits to respond in an open and transparent way, carefully taking the ITP’s advice into account.

6.4

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

6.5

It was then moved by Councillor Joe Otten, and seconded by Councillor Penny Baker, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (k) to (t) as follows:-

(k)        reaffirms the belief that what happened on the morning of 17th November on Rustlings Road was not an acceptable way for a city council to treat members of the public;

(l)         notes the ongoing conflicting statements about the events that took place on Rustlings Road on 17th November, from both Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Police;

(m)      notes the “Sheffield City Highways Tree Survey 2006-2007” carried out by Elliot Consultancy for Sheffield City Council, in which it recommends only 1000 trees need to be felled;

(n)       notes the foreword to the “Sheffield Highway Maintenance PFI Project Descriptive Document April 2009” from Councillor Paul Scriven, former Leader of the Council, which states only over-mature trees would be felled and replaced;

(o)       still believes that the Streets Ahead project is, on the whole, a good thing for Sheffield, once branded ‘pothole city’, but the problems surrounding the trees in particular are to do with the current Administration’s implementation of the contract and operational matters such as the “6Ds” policy;

(p)       believes the Administration is not being open and transparent with regards to the contents of the Amey contract and costings for alternative engineering solutions for tree retentions;

(q)       calls on the Administration to review its policy on highway trees so that it takes into account the full value of their contribution to air quality, quality of life and the quality of the natural environment, and the democratic will that they be retained in much larger numbers;

(r)        calls for the immediate publication of all parts of the Streets Ahead contract that relate to tree felling, to allow full public scrutiny of the contract;

(s)        calls for an enquiry by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, which will be open and held in public, to look specifically at:-

(i)     all operational matters with regards to felling of trees; and

(ii)    the events, decisions and operational matters specifically related to the felling of the trees on Rustlings Road -

            with a view to producing a series of recommendations and steps to ensure nothing of the nature of the Rustlings Road incident ever happens in Sheffield again; and

(t)         calls on Councillors Julie Dore and Bryan Lodge to take responsibility for the events of 17th November and to step down as Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, respectively.

6.6

Following a right of reply from Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, the amendment was put to the vote and negatived.

6.6.1

The votes on the amendment were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

6.7

It was then formally moved by Councillor Robert Murphy, and formally seconded by Councillor Alison Teal, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (k) and (l) as follows:-

(k)        apologises for the alarm and distress to local residents on Rustlings Road for the action of the Council and its partners on Thursday 17 November 2016, and believes these actions did not have the support of the Members of the Council; and

(l)         resolves that this Council has no confidence in the leadership of the current Administration on this issue.

6.8

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

6.8.1

The votes on the amendment were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

6.9

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)       reiterates the apology that has been made for the way in which the work to replace trees on Rustlings Road was carried out, and recognises that the Council has apologised for the mistakes that were made;

(b)       believes it was right for the Council to apologise for  the disruption and distress caused by knocking on people’s doors at 5am and the decision not to publish the Independent Tree Panel (ITP) report in advance;

(c)        welcomes that the apology included specific commitments that the Council will publish the Independent Tree Panel reports in a timely manner, with full and transparent information about how decisions have been reached, and the assurances that no work will begin before 7am;

(d)       fully supports the right of campaigners to continue to peacefully protest and, at the same time, believes that peaceful protests should not put the safety of the workforce who are doing their job, or the public, at risk;

(e)       continues to support the Streets Ahead Project, which is the biggest investment in Sheffield’s highway network that the city has ever seen, which was originally funded by the previous Labour Government;

(f)        recalls that plans to replace highway trees as part of the project were drawn up by Liberal Democrat Councillors when they were in control of the Council in a 2008 Cabinet Report detailing the scope of services to be included in the project and in a 2009 specification document drawn up for potential bidders for the contract, which included a forward from the then Leader of the Council, Councillor Paul Scriven;

(g)       continues to agree with the proposals put forward in the October 2008 and April 2009 documents relating to highway trees, the April 2009 document stating that “A significant improvement in the standard of tree maintenance will be required, with large numbers of over-mature trees being replaced by more appropriate species, and others pruned, crowned or otherwise maintained in a safe condition. The Authority will require the overall number of highway trees across the City to be sustained at current levels and the highway tree stock returned to a more balanced age-profile during the course of the Project”;

(h)       confirms that since the Streets Ahead Project started, more highway trees have been replanted in the city than removed, and the purpose of this work is as stated in the Tree Management Strategy to “ensure the street tree population is maintained and improved throughout the contract term to create a legacy of a healthy, diverse tree stock in terms of age, profile and species, reducing the risk of monocultures, whilst ensuring the safety of the highway user and adjacent properties”;

(i)         further confirms the following from the 2012-2017 Tree Management Strategy “The removal of street trees will only be considered as a last resort where there are no other reasonably practicable management options available to ensure safety or prevent damage to surrounding structures. Removals will only be specified by suitably qualified and experienced surveyors and, where necessary, additional decay detection equipment will be used to confirm any recommendations. All trees removed will be replaced on a one for one basis the following planting season (November to March)”;

(j)         recognises that proposals around the replacement of trees on a number of streets have raised further issues because of their status as World War I memorial trees;

(k)        notes that one of these streets is Western Road, where the consultation closes on 9th December, and that Councillors Craig Gamble Pugh and Anne Murphy have been consulting with their constituents on this road to raise awareness about the surveys; and

(l)         commits to engaging with stakeholders such as the Sheffield Community Covenant and War Memorials Trust when considering the Council’s response to advice from the Independent Tree Panel, if and when the residents of Western Road decide to ask the ITP to re-examine the proposals, and commits to respond in an open and transparent way, carefully taking the ITP’s advice into account.

6.9.1

The votes on the Substantive Motion were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-