Council tree felling...

[sheffbag 230]

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-03/sheffield_street_trees_inquiry_report.pdf

bumped following the report yesterday. 
Damming would not come close . 
some extracts

”Neither the Council nor Amey expected the tree replacement programme to attract the opposition it did. The risk assessments done on this issue before the contract was signed were inadequate. ”

”Others referred to the bunker mentality that developed in the Council, describing a culture that was unreceptive to external views, discouraging of internal dissent and prone to group-think.”

“The Council relied heavily, between 2016 and 2018 on the claim that it was tied down by the contract and that amending it would be disproportionately expensive. One argument they made was that the amendment process itself was expensive. That does not hold water: the contract was amended several times, including
in 2016. A different argument was that the cost of saving more trees was too high. There were two sorts of costs. First, the immediate financial costs of a different engineering solution. In some cases (e.g. leaving a
gap between kerb stones) that could have been negligible or negative (because the cost of tree replacement would have been avoided). The second sort of costs related to the possibility of higher future highway maintenance expenditure as a result of accepting a lower engineering standard for a small section of road or pavement to allow a tree to be retained. Those costs were, by definition, speculative and years into the future. The Council claimed to be worried that all additional costs would fall to them. In fact, they had leverage with Amey and could have negotiated. (The contract stipulated that protest risk lay with Amey.) By early 2018, Amey were proactively offering to meet additional costs arising from saving more trees themselves. So if cost concerns alone cannot account for the Council’s behaviour, what does? The Inquiry’s view is that the Council was significantly motivated simply by the determination to have its way.” 
“By early 2018, the Council had united almost everyone against them: it was hard to find any influential outsider willing to defend what they were doing”

“Developing and then adopting a flawed plan was a failure of strategic leadership. Responsibility for that rests primarily with senior Council officers and senior politicians in the administrations of the governing groups between 2008 and 2012.”

” The Council did not, between 2016 and early 2018, adequately consider whether its strategy of facing down the campaigners would work. Nor did it adequately consider whether the increasingly drastic action it was taking, and was seeking from both Amey and the police, was wise. It stretched the proportionate use of its authority beyond reasonable limits.”
“The Council’s behaviour amounted to a serious and sustained failure of strategic leadership. Responsibility for that ultimately rests with the political leadership – in particular, the relevant cabinet member and the Council Leader: they were responsible for setting the direction and tone.”

 

so a major project was poorly planned, risk analysed and pushed through despite opposition from the public and evidence from experts and lied to the public about the reasons for continuing.

 

sound familiar to something happening now?

 

doesn’t look like lessons have been learned and Terry Fox still believes he’s the best man for the job

 

Tobys show will be interesting today when he comes on

 

 

[bassett one 452]

mistake after mistake by labour and they the public still vote them in unbelievable

[lil-minx92 10]

I wondered when somebody was going to post on this thread! 
A damning report indeed on the Labour council.  
Toby was  very easy on Terry Fox who repeatedly tried to distance himself from any responsibility despite being the Cabinet Member for a period during the saga ‘responsible for setting the direction and tone’ .  
 

[sheffbag 230]

"we are different from 5 years ago, we're different from 2 years ago"

 

yet if you look at the conclusions from the report about poor planning, bad risk analysis, not accurate budgets, pushing through agendas, not learnign lessons. been beligarant. lying to the public and then look at 

 

Fargate containers - over budget, poorly planne,d pushed through

CAZ - lying to the public, poorly planned

 

Its not different at all but the only alternative in Sheffield is the Lib Dems becuase god help the council if the greens got in fully

 

[prince al 178]

When are the heads of the responsible going to roll?

[RollingJ 2,055]

6 minutes ago, prince al said:

When are the heads of the responsible going to roll?

Never - Sheffield Council is totally innocent.

[SteelHouse 17]

Just seen our illustrious leader Terry Fox on Calendar… what a slob.. couldn’t even button up his shirt/tie and basically said he was the man for the job going forward… oh yes Terry because you got it spot on re the fiasco with the container mess on Fargate didn’t you!!

Neither you or the incompetents you lead fill me with any confidence at all regarding anything to do with this once great city… it’s time for a change and hopefully in the upcoming local elections you get removed, this circus act simply has to stop!!!!

Edited March 7, 2023 by SteelHouse

[prince al 178]

Fox and Joseph’s, do the decent thing and resign! In the name of God, go! 
How many more disasters do we have to suffer?

Edited March 7, 2023 by prince al

[lil-minx92 10]

To be fair Kate came long after the tree felling issue. Terry however was well entrenched and one of the councillors the report holds partly accountable (without actually naming him). And he’s since been ‘promoted’! 

[hackey lad 3,989]

Whats Julie Dore up to  nowadays ?

[lil-minx92 10]

On 15/10/2020 at 21:43, Baron99 said:

As stated in the piece, "The council also made attempts in court - in legal action that was “positively agreed” by leader Julie Dore - to have a number of demonstrators jailed for breaching a protest injunction, with two given suspended jail sentences."

 

Yet absolutely no apology from Sheffield City Council leader, Julie Dore has so far been forthcoming?  Says a great deal about her in my opinion that she apparently sends out Coun. Mark Jones, to make an apology of sorts this morning on Radio Sheffield with the usual stock statements of lessons will be learned; we're listing to the people of Sheffield; we're aiming to re-engage, etc, blah, blah. 

 

As far as I know, for a great deal of the time when this whole tree felling debacle was going on, Coun. Jones wasn't involved in any respect?

 

There is also a great silence from two of the other major players in this fiasco, other than Coun. Dore, who were heavily involved & very vocals in their condemnation of protesters, councillors, Bryan Lodge & Terry Fox.  Clearly these two along with Julie Dore are hoping their silence will help in distancing themselves from the damning report in the hope that the citizens of Sheffield forget the part they played in all of this? 

 

As mentioned in the story, Julie Dore should really consider stepping down from her role as council leader.  The least she owes the people of Sheffield, (especially those whose lives were personally affected), is to step up & be questioned on her previous actions & offer her personal apology? 

 

It's to be hoped that come the next local elections, the electorate remember this? 

 

Worth a quote 

[harvey19 541]

The council will soon be recruiting teachers to teach the lessons to be learnt about the tree felling and container fiasco.

Containers still in Fargate yesterday.