Agenda item

Public Questions and Petitions

To receive any questions or petitions from members of the public

Minutes:

4.1

The Committee received the following questions from members of the public:-

 

 

 

(a)      Nigel Slack

 

 

 

(i)          In the Working Group’s findings on technical issues (page 30) they ‘…find that there is a need for dialogue of technical issues between the community and Streets Ahead.’  Can the Committee ask the Cabinet Member to comment on how these will be undertaken?

 

(ii)         Also on page 30, the report comments on street tree species.  Officers have supplied, in answer to a question at the previous meeting, a long list of potential species for any replanting.  Can a more specific recommendation be provided to enable the community to judge whether ‘…such trees should also have a ceremonial/stately appearance when mature.’ and thereby comment on the suggestions?

 

(iii)        It is unfortunate that this ‘cross party’ Committee chooses to make ‘party political’ comments in the report, under the heading ‘Commitments by Sheffield Council’ when many members of the community (about 7,300 at the last count) feel many of these commitments have already been broken.  Will a member of this Committee be at Cabinet to reflect that point of view from the community?

 

(iv)       (Recommendation 1) Will the Committee ask the Cabinet Member how he will interpret and apply the comment ‘…all appropriate means available to the Council…’?

(Recommendation 3) Will the Committee ask the Cabinet Member how he will interpret and apply the comment ‘…where practical and affordable…’?

 

(v)        Will this Committee ask the Cabinet Member whether he will be using the inflated costings in the Streets Ahead contract for any assessment of Recommendation 3, or is he prepared to take expert advice from beyond the biased contractor?

 

 

4.2

In response, the Chair stated that she would be attending the Cabinet meeting on 20th September 2017, to introduce the final report of the Western Road First World War Memorial Scrutiny Task and Finish Working Group.  Councillor Bryan Lodge stated that responses to a number of the questions raised by Mr Slack would be responded to, as part of the consideration of the report, by the Cabinet, at its meeting to be held on 20th September 2017.  In response to the question regarding the integrity of the contractor, Councillor Lodge stated that it was simply Mr Slack’s view that the contractor was biased, but pointed out that the Judge, as part of the recent Court hearing, had dismissed this view.  Councillor Lodge also indicated that he disagreed with the comments with regard to inflated costings in the Streets Ahead contract.

 

 

 

(b)      Dave Dillner

 

 

 

Dave Dillner requested copies of the four arboriculturalist and engineering reports on the 23 threatened trees on Western Road.

 

 

4.3

Councillor Bryan Lodge stated that this information would be shared at the Cabinet meeting to be held on 20th September 2017.  Paul Billington, Director of Culture and Environment, added that the Council had released as much information as possible, which it considered appropriate, in order to assist the Cabinet in making a decision. 

 

 

 

(c)      Alan Story

 

 

 

(i)          Mr Story referred to a petition requesting that the Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn, MP, acts as a mediator in the ongoing dispute with regard to the tree replacement programme in the City, and questioned whether arrangements had been made for this to happen.

 

(ii)         Mr Story, whilst referring to the definition of the word ‘stewardship’, stated that the trees planted on Western Road in 1919, in memory of former pupils of Westways School, who had lost their lives during the First World War, had been handed to Sheffield City Council, with a request that the Council act as stewards in terms of their future maintenance, and queried whether this would have been done if, at the time, the people who planted the trees would have been aware that they would have been felled at some stage in the future. 

 

 

4.4

Councillor Bryan Lodge stated that, with regard to the comments about Jeremy Corbyn, it was Mr Corbyn’s choice as to whether he chose to act as a mediator in the ongoing dispute in relation to the tree replacement programme in the City.

 

 

 

(d)      Elizabeth Motley

 

 

 

Elizabeth Motley stated that she believed that there were appropriate engineering solutions in terms of retaining the memorial trees on Western Road, but that the Council could not afford to pay for such works.  Ms Motley believed that the Western Road memorial trees were to be considered differently from other trees earmarked for replacement.  She referred to the Council’s plans to plant a number of trees in parks and woodlands in the City, in memory of the Sheffield soldiers who died during the First World War, stating that the pupils from Westways School who died during the War, walked up and down Western Road, and not through a park.  She also stated that she had been told that the tree roots could be cut without having a major effect on the tree or the highway, and queried whether or not this was the case.

 

 

4.5

The Chair stated that a written response regarding the tree roots would be sent to Ms Motley.

 

 

 

(e)      Adrian Millward

 

 

 

Adrian Millward stated that he had raised questions at previous meetings of the Scrutiny Committee, and that it had been three months since he had received a response.  He questioned whether there was a time limit in terms of written responses to questions.

 

 

4.6

The Policy and Improvement Officer stated that she was not aware of there being such a time limit, although every effort was made to ensure that a response was provided as soon as possible.  Whilst apologising for the delay in this case, she stated that there were often situations, such as in this case, where a considerable level of information was required to inform a response.