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| A dawn raid, dissenters silenced: is this a war on trees? A dawn raid, dissenters silenced: is this a war on trees? | |
| (30 days later) | |
| When Jenny Hockey was woken by two policemen hammering on her door at 5am last Thursday, her first fear was that some disaster had befallen her children or grandchildren. But as chainsaws revved in the dark and the officers ordered her to move her car, a disaster was about to befall her street trees. | When Jenny Hockey was woken by two policemen hammering on her door at 5am last Thursday, her first fear was that some disaster had befallen her children or grandchildren. But as chainsaws revved in the dark and the officers ordered her to move her car, a disaster was about to befall her street trees. |
| There is often a moment in long-running disputes when one side jumps the shark and performs an action so preposterous that its case is forever discredited: so it was with Sheffield’s Labour council and its dawn raid to destroy eight trees in Rustlings Road, where Jenny Hockey lives. | There is often a moment in long-running disputes when one side jumps the shark and performs an action so preposterous that its case is forever discredited: so it was with Sheffield’s Labour council and its dawn raid to destroy eight trees in Rustlings Road, where Jenny Hockey lives. |
| A 70-year-old emeritus professor she felt unable to stand “feebly watching” as these mature limes were hacked down, so she stepped past a protective barrier with another pensioner in peaceful protest. Both women were arrested and spent eight hours in a cell. Hockey fears she could face a six-month jail sentence. | A 70-year-old emeritus professor she felt unable to stand “feebly watching” as these mature limes were hacked down, so she stepped past a protective barrier with another pensioner in peaceful protest. Both women were arrested and spent eight hours in a cell. Hockey fears she could face a six-month jail sentence. |
| The bleak stumps, on which locals have lain flowers, are perhaps not as distressing as the council document published at 4.25am last Thursday morning: its independent tree panel found that seven of the eight trees were in good condition with a good life expectancy. Ah, experts. | The bleak stumps, on which locals have lain flowers, are perhaps not as distressing as the council document published at 4.25am last Thursday morning: its independent tree panel found that seven of the eight trees were in good condition with a good life expectancy. Ah, experts. |
| There is something rotten in Sheffield and it’s not the 36,000 mature street trees in this uniquely green city. Contrary to council claims, an independent survey in 2007 found that just 1,000 required replacing. Instead 4,000 so far have been chopped down by Amey, who are four years into a 25-year PFI contract to manage Sheffield’s roads. | There is something rotten in Sheffield and it’s not the 36,000 mature street trees in this uniquely green city. Contrary to council claims, an independent survey in 2007 found that just 1,000 required replacing. Instead 4,000 so far have been chopped down by Amey, who are four years into a 25-year PFI contract to manage Sheffield’s roads. |
| This contract is disastrous for trees because, like big old buildings, big old trees cost more to maintain. A newly planted tree is far cheaper over the 25-year contract. If a PFI deal were signed to manage Buckingham Palace, it would be demolished. | This contract is disastrous for trees because, like big old buildings, big old trees cost more to maintain. A newly planted tree is far cheaper over the 25-year contract. If a PFI deal were signed to manage Buckingham Palace, it would be demolished. |
| This is no parochial dispute. Enfeebled local authorities have signed secret PFI contracts (even the outraged local MP Nick Clegg can’t see Sheffield’s unredacted version) across the land. | This is no parochial dispute. Enfeebled local authorities have signed secret PFI contracts (even the outraged local MP Nick Clegg can’t see Sheffield’s unredacted version) across the land. |
| The myopic mathematics involved fail to account for the financial contribution a mature tree makes to flood alleviation, air quality, climate change amelioration and property prices. That’s before we consider trees’ impact on mental and physical health. And is it irrelevant that local people find these trees beautiful? | The myopic mathematics involved fail to account for the financial contribution a mature tree makes to flood alleviation, air quality, climate change amelioration and property prices. That’s before we consider trees’ impact on mental and physical health. And is it irrelevant that local people find these trees beautiful? |
| Sheffield says it must, with an eye for the future, engage in sensible husbandry, and trees will be replanted, but poor Jenny Hockey must cope with her name in the news. The people responsible for this controversy in Sheffield – from councillor Bryan Lodge to Sheffield city council chief executive John Mothersole to Amey chief executive Andy Milner – should be named too. They won’t feel shamed but they should. | Sheffield says it must, with an eye for the future, engage in sensible husbandry, and trees will be replanted, but poor Jenny Hockey must cope with her name in the news. The people responsible for this controversy in Sheffield – from councillor Bryan Lodge to Sheffield city council chief executive John Mothersole to Amey chief executive Andy Milner – should be named too. They won’t feel shamed but they should. |
| Slim down fatcars | Slim down fatcars |
| A few friends have bought SUVs to “protect their families” and it’s clear that the big-car arms race shows no sign of abating. Almost one in three new cars sold in Britain is an SUV. No surprise, then, that National Car Parks is enlarging many of its. Road tax linked to car size might shape thinking. Fatcats are universally detested. Fatcars are getting away with it. | A few friends have bought SUVs to “protect their families” and it’s clear that the big-car arms race shows no sign of abating. Almost one in three new cars sold in Britain is an SUV. No surprise, then, that National Car Parks is enlarging many of its. Road tax linked to car size might shape thinking. Fatcats are universally detested. Fatcars are getting away with it. |
| Brewdog can get stuffed | Brewdog can get stuffed |
| I rather like taxidermy but beer maker Brewdog is courting outrage by relaunching a 55% ABV beer called The End of History as part of a crowd-funded bid to open a brewery in Ohio. Each bottle is encased in a taxidermied corpse, usually a squirrel. It’s taken a century for the Victorian taxidermy of Walter Potter – who put anthropomorphised animals in comic tableaux – to return to fashion. I’m sure this historical comeback will end rather more quickly. | I rather like taxidermy but beer maker Brewdog is courting outrage by relaunching a 55% ABV beer called The End of History as part of a crowd-funded bid to open a brewery in Ohio. Each bottle is encased in a taxidermied corpse, usually a squirrel. It’s taken a century for the Victorian taxidermy of Walter Potter – who put anthropomorphised animals in comic tableaux – to return to fashion. I’m sure this historical comeback will end rather more quickly. |