Rustling Road trees are being felled right now

[Fudbeer 12]

The point is as we know they made public a report they had been sitting on for months in the middle of the night giving no chance for it to be looked at or discussed in any way then cut the trees down hours later despite the fact the report said the trees could be saved.

 

Thats not behaving with integrity and its certainly not democracy, even if you have no interest in this particular issue it tells you a lot about how they operate.

 

Even this apology is vague its all "we" with nobody standing up and being accountable,somebody must have decided this was an acceptable way to act.

[Penistone999 10]

The survey is open (as several people have said).

 

The proposal for my street in S6 is to remove every single tree on the street and to replant them.

I've obviously objected and said that it should be referred to the panel and trees only be removed where no other option exists.

 

(Eater - someone noted that removing mature trees is likely to cause damage to foundations itself as the moisture content changes due to no longer having trees withdrawing it).

 

They just ignore the panel anyway , so any objections wont bother them.

[Planner1 428]

It is the paid council officials who are in charge. Mothersole and his ilk are the ones in charge, they get paid over £100k a year, they are hardly likely to devolve important decisions to well meaning but dim Councillors.

 

Wrong. it's the other way round.

 

Sheffield Council operate what is known as a Strong Leader model of governance.

 

That means essentially all executive decisions lie with the Leader, but they delegate some of them to other Councillors in committees or as individual Cabinet Members. Some decisions are also delegated to officers.

[hackey lad 3,951]

Wrong. it's the other way round.

 

Sheffield Council operate what is known as a Strong Leader model of governance.

 

That means essentially all executive decisions lie with the Leader, but they delegate some of them to other Councillors in committees or as individual Cabinet Members. Some decisions are also delegated to officers.

 

a strong leader model of governance , that's as funny as it is insulting . Julie dore

[gamezone07 23]

Funny how they act rapidly on trees, I have been warning about priory road being used a rat run, all comers parking, etc, etc, i informed councilors, but nothing could be done, Had my car smashed into today on very same road, some point between midnight and 2pm, smashed my back lights(repairable) and caved in the side panel by the petrol cap, (can't replace) someone soon will be seriously hurt even killed by these speed merchants and i am paying out money i can't afford, i have supported labour but fuming on this.

[Cyclone 10]

Parking? What do you expect them to do about people legally parking?

 

---------- Post added 25-11-2016 at 22:25 ----------

 

If they remove the 90 year old tree that stands outside our house with a sapling I will be forever grateful.

 

I guess the tree wasn't there when you bought the house.

 

---------- Post added 25-11-2016 at 22:26 ----------

 

Coun Lodge does get a lot of stuff thrown at him but let's take a step back and think who is really in control of City Hall. Councillors are unpaid, unqualified normal folk. They would not be allowed within a hundred miles of a Billion £ contract with a multinational company, neither would they have the knowledge of obscure anti trade union laws to pursue peaceful protesters.

 

It is the paid council officials who are in charge. Mothersole and his ilk are the ones in charge, they get paid over £100k a year, they are hardly likely to devolve important decisions to well meaning but dim Councillors.

 

The councillors are certainly capable of sacking the officers. So if this was truly the case, we can expect to see someone sacked very shortly... But we won't, because this was on the council's orders.

[taxman 12]

Wrong. it's the other way round.

 

Sheffield Council operate what is known as a Strong Leader model of governance.

 

That means essentially all executive decisions lie with the Leader, but they delegate some of them to other Councillors in committees or as individual Cabinet Members. Some decisions are also delegated to officers.

 

Really, so if councillors make all the important decisions why is Mothersole paid so much?

 

He is in charge, the elected councillors are just willing pawns. Mothersole gets £219,000 per year. He's not likely to let elected councillors have any say in the real day to day running of City Hall. They might think they do, but come on be realistic. He wouldn't get that massive wodge if he wasn't in total and utter control. Dore might pretend to be a "strong leader" but just remember who gets paid over £200k and who doesn't

 

---------- Post added 25-11-2016 at 22:48 ----------

 

 

I think they were probably wrong to go ahead with felling without looking further into alternative ways of retaining them (eg by giving the locals the opportunity to fund the extra cost of retaining the trees).

 

 

Why the hell should locals pay for retaining the trees, Amey are already contracted to do it. Just because they've decided they can't be bothered is no reason for the public purse to bail them out. Make them do it, or cancel their contract.

[Olive 10]

Parking? What do you expect them to do about people legally parking?

 

---------- Post added 25-11-2016 at 22:25 ----------

 

 

I guess the tree wasn't there when you bought the house.

 

 

I was naive. I had no clue how year on year the gloom would have such an effect on my wellbeing. I imagine it's a bit like having noisy neighbours, you don't mind it so much at first, but after a while the cumulative effect really gets you down.

 

Even more naively, we actually thought the council would do the decent thing, and cut it back to something like a reasonable size, but no not even the branches that overhung our property, or grew so low that the footpath was obstructed, or when the roots caused so much damage our retaining garden wall had to be rebuilt, or when the pavement became so raised it's impossible to pull the car onto the drive without it damaging the car.

 

This tree has been neglected. But I guess that's all my fault?

[Eater Sundae 12]

Really, so if councillors make all the important decisions why is Mothersole paid so much?

 

He is in charge, the elected councillors are just willing pawns. Mothersole gets £219,000 per year. He's not likely to let elected councillors have any say in the real day to day running of City Hall. They might think they do, but come on be realistic. He wouldn't get that massive wodge if he wasn't in total and utter control. Dore might pretend to be a "strong leader" but just remember who gets paid over £200k and who doesn't

 

---------- Post added 25-11-2016 at 22:48 ----------

 

 

Why the hell should locals pay for retaining the trees, Amey are already contracted to do it. Just because they've decided they can't be bothered is no reason for the public purse to bail them out. Make them do it, or cancel their contract.

 

So you know the terms of the streets ahead contract, do you?

[Olive 10]

By the way, on our street, some of the residents are trying to do something positive to build a better, more sustainable streetscape for our future. We're pushing for more trees to be planted. We dont just want the three, grown-too-big-for-where-they-are-trees to be replaced. We'd love for the street to be resored to its original Edwardian design, with trees all along. As long as they're of a suitable variety. I'm trying to do something positive to improve quality of life for me and my neighbours.

[Eater Sundae 12]

By the way, on our street, some of the residents are trying to do something positive to build a better, more sustainable streetscape for our future. We're pushing for more trees to be planted. We dont just want the three, grown-too-big-for-where-they-are-trees to be replaced. We'd love for the street to be resored to its original Edwardian design, with trees all along. As long as they're of a suitable variety. I'm trying to do something positive to improve quality of life for me and my neighbours.

 

That's a positive approach, and I hope you are successful.

 

I think that tree size (relative to the site where it is grown) is often the problem. In many cases it has been necessary to heavily prune roadside trees over the years. More careful choice of trees would have allowed sustainable avenues of trees which are in harmony with the scale of the roads and houses where they are set.

 

About 300 yds from my house (but on the same road, so I received the consultation notification) they are proposing to replace a sycamore by planting a type of birch. According to Wikipedia, sycamores grow to 35m. The birch being proposed can grow to 20m. Although I don't know the particular variety of birch, my experience is that birches grow more slowly than the common sycamore, which is fast growing and pretty invasive.

 

If we go for avenues of similar trees, we will always be likely to have several stages of development - an initial stage with small trees needing support, established trees, and finally, possibly, trees that are too big for the site. The rate of growth of the trees is an issue. We want fast growing trees so that they soon reach an attractive size. The downside is that they carry on growing and can overpower the site. The ideal would probably be to plant a well established slow growing variety of tree, but of course that would greatly increase costs. So we compromise by planting younger trees, and wait for them to grow.

 

(Edit inserted. Where streets are already tree lined, but badly maintained, historically, as we now have, it becomes difficult to maintain an avenue style of similar trees. So we either do a series of patches, or we pull out the lot and start again).

 

As an aside, I have a copy of a book of old photographs of Sheffield 10. (Although oddly a lot of the photographs are actually S11). It is one of the modern paperbacks, as often seen in local newsagents, so nothing special. On page 30, there is a photograph of Rustlings Road which shows recently planted trees, each still with their triple supporting stakes, and looking close together. The road looks very different from how it looks now. The houses have a much more open aspect (little vegetation in the front gardens), tram tracks, and not a vehicle in sight. I wonder if the people living on the road at that time appreciated how much the road would change over the years, and how different the treescape would be.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Eater Sundae
Added a bit, plus correcting a few typos

[Bargepole23 337]

Really, so if councillors make all the important decisions why is Mothersole paid so much?

 

He is in charge, the elected councillors are just willing pawns. Mothersole gets £219,000 per year. He's not likely to let elected councillors have any say in the real day to day running of City Hall. They might think they do, but come on be realistic. He wouldn't get that massive wodge if he wasn't in total and utter control. Dore might pretend to be a "strong leader" but just remember who gets paid over £200k and who doesn't

 

---------- Post added 25-11-2016 at 22:48 ----------

 

 

Why the hell should locals pay for retaining the trees, Amey are already contracted to do it. Just because they've decided they can't be bothered is no reason for the public purse to bail them out. Make them do it, or cancel their contract.

 

Do you think that's how organisations and businesses work? Somebody at the top, paid a massive wodge, in total and utter control? Not at all the case in my experience.