Sheffield tree inquiry: council leader will not resign and rejects colleague's resignation following damning report

Both councillors Fox and Bryan Lodge were heads of the controversial £2 billion highways programme to fell 17,500 street trees and replace them with saplings during the saga.

Coun Fox took the position in 2015/16 before Lodge took over between 2016 and 2018, during which a string of infamous incidents took place.

Sir Mark Lowcock, chair of the street tree inquiry, published his findings yesterday, saying the scheme was “flawed from the moment the contract was signed” between the council and Amey and described it as a “dark episode in Sheffield”.

Findings from the inquiry exposed the council for stretching the use of its authority in taking drastic action against campaigners, serious and sustained failures in leadership, and misleading an independent panel it set up to deal with the dispute, the public and the courts.

A few hours after the publication of the 100,000 word report detailing the council’s failings, Sheffield Liberal Democrats called for Coun Lodge and Fox to resign due to their involvement.

Although the contract was drawn up when the Liberal Democrats were in control, Labour was at the helm for much of the controversy.

Coun Fox said he understood the call but would not resign, saying he worked hard towards a positive consensus.

He said Coun Lodge, who is currently the co-chair of the finance committee, offered his resignation yesterday but he refused it.

“I had a long conversation with Bryan last night,” he said. “He is truly sorry, he has digested a lot of the report and he will be making an apology.

“I turned down [his resignation] because of the experience Bryan brings to the table through this whole dispute. Bryan went through a lot of hell in that and so did a lot of residents and campaigners, I know that.

“He’s done a lot of wonderful things over the past five years representing his residents in Birley, he’s done a lot with the war memorial trees and he’s helped me and Zahira Naz develop a budget in no overall control which was unanimously supported.

“I think the easy option would be to resign and not face up to this situation but we are determined to come out to apologise and move forward for our city.”

Coun Lodge led the programme for two years, during which time the increasingly bitter dispute escalated, seeing arrests, regular protests, and the threat of injunctions against campaigners.

He was also in charge during the infamous “dawn raid” incident on Rustlings Road. Council contractors reportedly dragged residents out of their beds at 4.45 am to move their cars so they could fell the trees before protesters arrived. Then MP for Sheffield Hallam Nick Clegg described it as “something you’d expect to see in Putin’s Russia”.

Coun Lodge resigned from his position as cabinet member for environment and street scene in 2018 around local election time due to stress caused by the ongoing row and the “nasty and personal abuse” directed towards him.

To read the full findings and recommendations, visit: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/independent-inquiry-into-street-trees-dispute#:~:text=Following%20the%20signing%20of%20the,report%20on%206%20March%202023.