The fight to save Sheffield's street trees
October 24, 2023 5:04 AM Subscribe
It all started with a perfectly reasonable proposition. Sheffield’s roads were in a bad state, and its pavements were wonky. In order to fix this, with no money available due to Tory government cuts, Sheffield City Council (Labour run through the duration of this saga) decided the solution was to cut down the trees whose roots appeared to be pushing up the asphalt and causing this damage. They seemed not to take into account that residents loved their tree lined streets. Years of protest and conflict ensued as the council didn't back down.
The conclusion: In early 2019, a team of experts inspected 12 trees, chosen at random, to see if repairs to the pavement could be made without removing them. Until this point, no one had actually dug into the asphalt to check. When the engineers did just that, they found that the roots were not, in fact, close to the surface. Here, and on many other streets, the problem was caused by asphalt being repeatedly overlaid where roots had slightly lifted the surface. In some places, the road surface was 25cm deep.
The trees did not need to be cut down to resolve the issue. There was a viable alternative to felling each of the 12 trees they inspected.
The conclusion: In early 2019, a team of experts inspected 12 trees, chosen at random, to see if repairs to the pavement could be made without removing them. Until this point, no one had actually dug into the asphalt to check. When the engineers did just that, they found that the roots were not, in fact, close to the surface. Here, and on many other streets, the problem was caused by asphalt being repeatedly overlaid where roots had slightly lifted the surface. In some places, the road surface was 25cm deep.
The trees did not need to be cut down to resolve the issue. There was a viable alternative to felling each of the 12 trees they inspected.
I have a whole set of feelings about anyone who looks at our fallen modern world and decides cars, parking and asphalt are more important than trees.
I agree.
This article, on the other hand, is about a council that thought that smooth sidewalks, which are vital for public transit users and pedestrians -- especially those with limited mobility and those using wheelchairs, walkers, push strollers and the like -- were important. And how its internal dysfunction and bunker mentality, combined with outsourcing contracts with a foundation of austerity policies from higher levels of government, led to the completely unnecessary destruction of trees. It's a great read.
posted by Superilla at 5:47 AM on October 24, 2023 [19 favorites]
I agree.
This article, on the other hand, is about a council that thought that smooth sidewalks, which are vital for public transit users and pedestrians -- especially those with limited mobility and those using wheelchairs, walkers, push strollers and the like -- were important. And how its internal dysfunction and bunker mentality, combined with outsourcing contracts with a foundation of austerity policies from higher levels of government, led to the completely unnecessary destruction of trees. It's a great read.
posted by Superilla at 5:47 AM on October 24, 2023 [19 favorites]
Over the previous six years, 5,600 trees had been cut down.
A forest. They cut down a veritable forest.
It's incredible how quickly administrators/officials can take in a tree and determine it a cost, a hassle, and something either unneeded or easily replaced. The council members should have a penace of planting trees for years to come for their repeated decisions to ignore or override the policies and studies that they, themselves, had a hand in generating. Geez.
posted by Atreides at 6:37 AM on October 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
A forest. They cut down a veritable forest.
It's incredible how quickly administrators/officials can take in a tree and determine it a cost, a hassle, and something either unneeded or easily replaced. The council members should have a penace of planting trees for years to come for their repeated decisions to ignore or override the policies and studies that they, themselves, had a hand in generating. Geez.
posted by Atreides at 6:37 AM on October 24, 2023 [11 favorites]
Smooth footpaths are absolutely an access issue, for wheelchair users; for parents with strollers; for elderly people who might trip and fall.
But street trees are also an access issue: in Summer, a street with no street trees and no shade becomes too hot for a lot of people to safely walk from point A to point B without risking heat exhaustion.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:14 AM on October 24, 2023 [22 favorites]
But street trees are also an access issue: in Summer, a street with no street trees and no shade becomes too hot for a lot of people to safely walk from point A to point B without risking heat exhaustion.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:14 AM on October 24, 2023 [22 favorites]
While the destruction is terrible, I was distracted by one thing... they actually named the project "Streets Ahead"? Laughs in Community.
posted by tavella at 8:48 AM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tavella at 8:48 AM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
They should have to go back and plant 5,600 trees. Same species. Same places. Large specimens transplanted from elsewhere.
Cutting down a tree should be something you approach carefully and regretfully, a last resort. Cutting down 5,600 trees is just mooks with chainsaws.
posted by pracowity at 9:12 AM on October 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Cutting down a tree should be something you approach carefully and regretfully, a last resort. Cutting down 5,600 trees is just mooks with chainsaws.
posted by pracowity at 9:12 AM on October 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Q: When is the best time to plant a tree?
A: 50 years ago.
Cutting one down is absolutely not a measure you take for quick results.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:46 AM on October 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
A: 50 years ago.
Cutting one down is absolutely not a measure you take for quick results.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:46 AM on October 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
I live in Sheffield and was there when all this was going on.
It's a city not without its problems, but the sheer amount of green space and tree lined streets is striking. The council's actions were self-sabotage on an epic scale.
They then had the gall to start a campaign called "The Outdoor City"
"The UK's greenest city, where nature and culture intertwine."
It really is a place where urban life meets nature, but not if the council has its way.
I'm glad this is all in the past and proud to live somewhere where people gave a shit. It's really sad to see a repeat of it all kicking off in other places like Plymouth.
posted by benoliver999 at 10:56 AM on October 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
It's a city not without its problems, but the sheer amount of green space and tree lined streets is striking. The council's actions were self-sabotage on an epic scale.
They then had the gall to start a campaign called "The Outdoor City"
"The UK's greenest city, where nature and culture intertwine."
It really is a place where urban life meets nature, but not if the council has its way.
I'm glad this is all in the past and proud to live somewhere where people gave a shit. It's really sad to see a repeat of it all kicking off in other places like Plymouth.
posted by benoliver999 at 10:56 AM on October 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
Because, you know, when the trees are gone, you'll have to put in speed bumps to slow the feckin' drivers down.
Construction company profit!
posted by BlueHorse at 11:29 AM on October 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Construction company profit!
posted by BlueHorse at 11:29 AM on October 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Accessibility, sidewalks, and trees are a solved problem. Most decent modern places can do it without any fanfare. In the UK the local governing body, typically a council, are legally (Equality Act 2010) required to assess and proactively reduce barriers to accessibility, typically using Equality Impact Assessments. This is about austerity.
The issue here is managing costs, and this locality is operating under the assumption that the maintenance of three costs more than just two. The primary cause of buckling/failure is environmental: thermal expansion and contraction. I would bet that these surfaces simply weren't built to handle higher summer temps, colder winters or greater rain.
Tree maintenance is itself an additional cost, that is why it is incidental if their roots contribute to the issue, the cheapest option is to remove all the trees.
Does this fix all the concrete that has already been lifted by tree trunk and roots, if any? No. Does this plan for when the roots decay and collapse and shift the everything again? No. All it does is provide a stark visual cue that the council is saving money on tree service, which is a very British council thing to do.
posted by zenon at 11:51 AM on October 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
The issue here is managing costs, and this locality is operating under the assumption that the maintenance of three costs more than just two. The primary cause of buckling/failure is environmental: thermal expansion and contraction. I would bet that these surfaces simply weren't built to handle higher summer temps, colder winters or greater rain.
Tree maintenance is itself an additional cost, that is why it is incidental if their roots contribute to the issue, the cheapest option is to remove all the trees.
Does this fix all the concrete that has already been lifted by tree trunk and roots, if any? No. Does this plan for when the roots decay and collapse and shift the everything again? No. All it does is provide a stark visual cue that the council is saving money on tree service, which is a very British council thing to do.
posted by zenon at 11:51 AM on October 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
This article, on the other hand, is about a council that thought that smooth sidewalks, which are vital for public transit users and pedestrians -- especially those with limited mobility and those using wheelchairs, walkers, push strollers and the like -- were important.
The council in this article, on the other hand, "launched a £1.2bn road improvement project called Streets Ahead... Sheffield’s Streets Ahead project was managed by the highways team, which appeared to see trees as a problem to be solved, rather than an asset to be protected... In the first year alone, 185 miles of road were resurfaced and 4,000 street lights replaced. For Labour, the project was a point of pride. Dagnall recalled councillors speaking 'about how many roads were going to be resurfaced, and how many bridges were going to be repaired'"
Not a lot of discussion in this article, on the other hand, about sidewalk resurfacing, or about accessibility for the elderly, or about assisting those living with disabilities. Instead, and unambiguously, it describes a "road improvement project" that was "managed by the highways team," and whose first priority was to resurface "185 miles of road".
That much roadway could provide a lot of legroom for a lot of elderly people, and a great surface for lots of wheelchairs. It's a shame all that spacious fresh asphalt is monopolized by drivers, who, despite their manifest and overwhelming good intentions, can't seem to share any of it.
Indubitably, the council formed words about their intention to "reduce the incidence of tree root damage to footways." On the other hand, the council said a lot of things "that were economical with the truth, misleading and, in some cases, were ultimately exposed as dishonest”.
posted by cthlsgnd at 2:46 PM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
The council in this article, on the other hand, "launched a £1.2bn road improvement project called Streets Ahead... Sheffield’s Streets Ahead project was managed by the highways team, which appeared to see trees as a problem to be solved, rather than an asset to be protected... In the first year alone, 185 miles of road were resurfaced and 4,000 street lights replaced. For Labour, the project was a point of pride. Dagnall recalled councillors speaking 'about how many roads were going to be resurfaced, and how many bridges were going to be repaired'"
Not a lot of discussion in this article, on the other hand, about sidewalk resurfacing, or about accessibility for the elderly, or about assisting those living with disabilities. Instead, and unambiguously, it describes a "road improvement project" that was "managed by the highways team," and whose first priority was to resurface "185 miles of road".
That much roadway could provide a lot of legroom for a lot of elderly people, and a great surface for lots of wheelchairs. It's a shame all that spacious fresh asphalt is monopolized by drivers, who, despite their manifest and overwhelming good intentions, can't seem to share any of it.
Indubitably, the council formed words about their intention to "reduce the incidence of tree root damage to footways." On the other hand, the council said a lot of things "that were economical with the truth, misleading and, in some cases, were ultimately exposed as dishonest”.
posted by cthlsgnd at 2:46 PM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm glad this had the happy ending I was not expecting.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:19 PM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:19 PM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was also not expecting such a positive ending (not downplaying the destroyed trees) and wish this was more often the case. If people are persistent and stubborn enough, they can achieve great things and I applaud the protestors for sticking to their beliefs for so long. It's a shame bureaucrats, also being people, sometimes use that tenacity for bad, even in the face of evidence they're wrong.
posted by dg at 7:12 PM on October 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 7:12 PM on October 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
The report of the independent inquiry into this debacle is a fascinating read itself and I recommend it as a cautionary tale.
posted by fallingbadgers at 4:39 AM on October 25, 2023
posted by fallingbadgers at 4:39 AM on October 25, 2023
"In Summer, a street with no street trees and no shade becomes too hot for a lot of people to safely walk from point A to point B without risking heat exhaustion."
Not in Sheffield
posted by Faff at 5:57 AM on October 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Not in Sheffield
posted by Faff at 5:57 AM on October 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Especially after this year's dreadful summer
posted by benoliver999 at 6:45 AM on October 25, 2023
posted by benoliver999 at 6:45 AM on October 25, 2023
That much roadway could provide a lot of legroom for a lot of elderly people, and a great surface for lots of wheelchairs. It's a shame all that spacious fresh asphalt is monopolized by drivers, who, despite their manifest and overwhelming good intentions, can't seem to share any of it.People who genuinely care about accessibility have the same relationship with motorists as real environmentalists have with NIMBYs: their cause is right but it’s being used as a cynical PR tool by a much larger group of people. Every time someone proposes a safety project where I live, perfectly able people come out of the woodwork to oppose loss of their subsidized parking and while accessibility is a favored talking point, most of them are conspicuously silent on the topic in any other context, completely unwilling to increase the number of reserved spots, and never even acknowledge that, say, a bus lane is a pretty nice accessibility win for the many people who can’t operate or afford a private car.
I feel like this is a huge challenge to figure out how to reclaim the conversation so these aren’t so routinely presented as incompatible goals when they should be complementary. Between climate change and the inability to keep subsidizing private car ownership in all but the richest communities, we can’t afford to keep doing this.
posted by adamsc at 6:47 AM on October 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
I was distracted by one thing... they actually named the project "Streets Ahead"?
It's a longstanding expression in British English. That episode of Community landed quite strangely here.
See also the episode of Cheers where they send Frasier on a snipe hunt. This is a snipe.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 8:34 AM on October 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's a longstanding expression in British English. That episode of Community landed quite strangely here.
See also the episode of Cheers where they send Frasier on a snipe hunt. This is a snipe.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 8:34 AM on October 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
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