Street tree inquiry: Sheffield Council contractor Amey makes apology and pledges to learn lessons

The firm Amey won a £2 billion Streets Ahead contract with Sheffield City Council in 2012 to deliver highways improvements including the felling of 17,500 street trees, which caused an outcry and a wave of protests as locals fought to save trees from being felled.

The controversial Private Finance Initiative deal was described as “flawed from the moment the contract was signed” by independent street tree dispute inquiry chair Sir Mark Lowcock in his hard-hitting 100,00-word report that was published yesterday (March 6). He described the dispute as a “a dark episode for Sheffield”.

The report said: “Between 2012 and mid-2015, Amey and the council thought that the Streets Ahead programme was proceeding well. They failed to take seriously advice from a number of knowledgeable people who said, at the time the contract was signed in 2012, that the tree elements would be problematic.

“They failed to understand the extent of the public opposition that built in the next three years, the significance of the emergence of groups of local residents concerned about what they were seeing, or how things might evolve.”

Sir Mark Lowcock recommended that Amey should “recognise, and apologise for, its part in developing the flawed plan”.

Lessons

The firm said in its initial response: “Amey welcomes this report and the thoroughness with which Sir Mark Lowcock approached his task. We have all learned lessons from this difficult period and we apologise for not adequately predicting the strength of feeling around the tree replacement programme.

“We will work with Sheffield City Council and other stakeholders to take the learnings forward, as we build on recent progress with the Street Tree Partnership. We remain committed to delivering excellent services to the council and the people of Sheffield.”

South Yorkshire Police gave evidence to the inquiry about its role in policing protests. Many protesters questioned the role of the force, telling the inquiry they felt that police were working too closely with the council and Amey and not protecting them.

The report said: “The council had wanted the police to be tougher in the opposite direction, and enlisted Amey in seeking to bring pressure to bear to that end.”

The inquiry report added: “On the front line, and under pressure, there may have been individual mistakes, but there is nothing to suggest an inappropriate approach by the police.”

It also stated: “Ultimately, the inquiry’s view is that the police were put in an invidious position because it took too long for the council to adopt an approach which facilitated a calming of the dispute.”

Significance

The force gave a short statement yesterday. It said: “South Yorkshire Police understands the significance of the Sheffield Street Trees Inquiry report by Sir Mark Lowcock.

“We will take a few days to read and understand this report properly it before we comment further.”

To see the full report by the independent panel and chair Sir Mark Lowcock’s statement yesterday when he presented it, go to this Sheffield City Council webpage: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/independent-inquiry-into-street-trees-dispute

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