Sheffield City Council issues five-page apology over tree-felling controversy

A council has issued a five-page apology after admitting serious mistakes over its handling of a controversial scheme to remove thousands of trees from city streets.

Sheffield City Council has accepted it "sowed discord" and made errors which caused "harm" both to members of the public and its own staff, as well as contractors working on the council's behalf.

The apology follows the damning findings of an independent inquiry into the council’s felling of thousands of trees in Sheffield between 2016 and 2018.

In an open letter to residents of Sheffield, council leader Tom Hunt and chief executive Kate Josephs said: "We recognise that this full apology, for some, is a long time coming and we understand that due to the council’s behaviour, some people will never forgive Sheffield City Council and have lost trust and faith in us."

The tree-felling programme was part of a 25-year £2.2billion private finance initiative agreement between the council and contractor Amey to resurface pothole-ridden road system and maintain roadside trees.

It led to long-running protests, daily confrontations between objectors and contractors in some of the city’s leafiest suburbs and several unwarranted arrests.

In a report following an inquiry led by former United Nations official Sir Mark Lowcock, the council was found to have been guilty of dishonesty and a lack of transparency.

At a meeting in March, Sir Mark said: "Sheffield’s reputation was damaged, public trust and confidence in the council was undermined and it has not been fully rebuilt. People on all sides suffered anxiety, stress injuries, wider physical and mental health problems and other harms which some continue to carry."

In its letter, the council acknowledged that campaigners were "misrepresented as unrepresentative and primarily concerned with their own streets".

"This inaccurate characterisation sowed discord within communities," it said.

"A lot of people care about our street trees and gave their time and energy to try to protect them for the benefit of the whole city."

It added: "The errors that the council made led to harm. Our own staff, contractors andsubcontractors were placed in unacceptable positions and subject to harassment.

"Protesters and campaigners were maligned, injured and experienced physical, emotional, and for some, financial stress. The action the council took damaged Sheffield’s reputation in a way that casts a long shadow."

Sheffield City Council has set out its responses to the inquiry in a formal report.

In their apology Mr Hunt and Ms Josephs said: "While we know that the decisions Sheffield City Council take will continue to require challenging trade-offs, this should ensure that lessons are learnt and that a dispute of this magnitude with our residents can never happen again."

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