The felling continues

You report the council’s tree surveys are hitting doormats in Dore and Heeley.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Dec 2015, 06:21 BST
Save the trees campaign on Rustlings Road in SheffieldSave the trees campaign on Rustlings Road in Sheffield
Save the trees campaign on Rustlings Road in Sheffield

If 50 per cent of a street’s residents disagree with the proposed felling of trees, an independent panel will review the situation.

Sounds like a democratic solution?

But would we be happy to use such a survey to decide about speed limits on our roads or smoking in public places?

No, we expect expert sources to inform these decisions.

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Yet despite research-based advice from senior members of both our universities, the future of our shared environment is to be decided on a show of hands, as though trees were just another lifestyle choice.

Extensive evidence of highway trees’ contribution to aspects of our city’s well-being such as air quality, physical and mental health and biodiversity, as well as their capacity to mitigate the effects of climate change, is disregarded and the felling continues.

To the cost of us all.

Jenny Hockey

S11