Michael Gove has intervened in a long-running battle to try to stop a controversial tree-felling programme in Sheffield.

A number of Sheffield residents have been arrested trying to protect some of the 6,000 trees that face being chopped down as part of a 25-year £2bn highway maintenance scheme called Streets Ahead.

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Now the environment secretary has sent a letter to the council demanding an end to the “destruction of thousands of mature trees”, which he said would “damage our children’s rightful inheritance”.

In his letter, addressed to the council leader, Julie Dore, and leaked to the Yorkshire Post, he also expressed concerns about the “transparency in the decision-making process” that identified the trees for the chainsaw.

Gove’s letter, dated Wednesday, said: “It is clear that many of Sheffield’s residents are deeply frustrated and angry at the decision to remove a large number of trees from local streets.

“Understandably, local people place a significant value on their green spaces, and their local environment, and these trees are a really important part of that. We know trees and and leafy streets make places healthier, cleaner and more desirable places to live.”



The council hit back and accused Gove of wading in without checking the facts and pursuing “ill-informed whims” that contradict his government’s policy.

“There is a lot of misinformation around, and it is surprising that you would not seek a full understanding of an issue before announcing a position.

“I know that you have publicly stated that you believe ‘the country has had enough of experts’ but our council believes they still have a role to play,” wrote Bryan Lodge, the council’s cabinet member for environment and street scene.

He continued: “We would rather follow the robust workings of the many expert groups involved in the Streets Ahead programme, and deliver what the majority of Sheffield resident want us to, rather than follow the ill-informed whims of a Conservative minister.”

The letter also accuses Gove of ordering the council to breach a contract his own government had a hand in drawing up.

The council claims it funded the tree-felling programme using a private finance initiative model on the government’s orders. The contract runs for 25 years, ending in 2037, and will cost taxpayers £2.2bn over its lifetime, according to the Sheffield Tree Action Groups, which oppose it.

Lodge wrote to Gove: “I was surprised that your letter calls for us to breach the terms of the Streets Ahead contract, particularly given the fact that the government (through Department for Transport) are party to the contract, and that it was at your government’s instruction that the PFI model was used to finance this programme of work.

“The reality is that the consequences of withdrawal would, as you should be aware, represent profound financial imprudence, dire environmental consequences, be counter to what a majority of Sheffield residents want, and would put the council in neglect of our legal duties.”

The letter also points out that an additional 65,000 trees have been planted in the city since the beginning of the Streets Ahead programme in 2012. Trees are only marked for replacement if they are dead, dying, diseased, dangerous, damaging (footpaths, private property or roads) or discriminatory (meaning the tree creates difficulty for elderly, disabled and partially sighted people when using the footpath), Lodge said.

In a statement on Thursday Stag said: “We welcome the secretary of state for the environment’s recognition that Sheffield city council’s policies are damaging our local environment.

“We are also glad to see that, unlike our local authority, the government understands that these huge outsourcing contracts must be handled with great care to avoid damaging citizens’ interests. We believe that there are dangerous flaws in the way this contract was set up by SCC, but it is not too late to put things right if there is willingness on all sides.”