Sheffield Council launches long-awaited street tree archive

Leaders’ emails, meeting minutes and other recorded information related to the street tree fiasco between 2013 and 2018 are now publicly available offline and via the internet here: https://www2.calmview.co.uk/SheffieldArchives/CalmView/Default.aspx?

Council archivists will be adding to it in coming months and urged all stakeholders and individuals who wish to add information to get in touch with the team by emailing [email protected].

Councillor Julie Grocutt, deputy leader of the council, said many of the documents were already in the public domain but this new archive has brought together all held information on the issue from that time period for easier access.

She said: “The launch of the street tree archive today marks another significant and positive milestone in the council’s commitment to changing and improving the management of its street trees.

“We have made great strides in recent years developing a new approach to caring for our urban trees, evidenced by the excellent work of the Street Tree Partnership, set up in 2021, and the recent Tree City of the World status, but it is hoped that the creation of the archive further highlights our commitment to maintaining total transparency and openness in relation to our past approaches and decisions, and in turn shows just how far we have come, and the important lessons learned along the way.”

It follows the controversial, and in some cases illegal, felling of thousands of street trees under the council’s £2.2 billion Streets Ahead PFI contract with Amey which caused outrage across the city and made national headlines.

A Street Tree Partnership was since established which set out a strategy focussing on retaining trees where possible and making decisions on a case-by-case basis. An inquiry is also currently taking place into the saga.

Documents have come from the council, Amey, South Yorkshire Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Forestry Commission and the Local Government Ombudsman.

The council said due to the volume and scope of documents, it decided to release them in batches to avoid delay in publishing those that are ready to view.