Dear Supporters Thank you to all who came to the second public meeting of Save Nether Edge Trees last week. Hot on the agenda was the tree consultation surveys that have started to appear in different parts of the city. On the face of it "consultation" may seem like a positive thing, do not be fooled! One of the places to recieve surveys is Rustlings Road, original home of the SORT campaign. In keeping with the efficiency and integrity of their campaign, SORT have conducted their own survey and have discovered that well over 50% of households have voted ‘NO’ to felling. This means that an Independent Panel review should now be triggered and SORT are awaiting confirmation from Streets Ahead. As most of you are already aware, this ‘Resident’ Survey is deeply flawed, not least because the retention of healthy, safe mature trees should not be a lifestyle choice nor should it only include those who live on streets with trees, after all we all breathe the same air, we all walk the same streets.... Even though the surveys may not have landed on your doorstep yet, this affects us ALL. So please complain, as many of you have already been doing, by using the online complaints procedure below. Please note that the complaint box is restricted to 1000 characters, including spaces! https://service.sheffield.gov.uk/selfservice/L1_Portal.html?formname=SSComplaints Complain that this survey is undemocratic and has been incompetently delivered - for example, not all RR residents received surveys, non-residents could not vote, despite it being THEIR neighbourhoods and THEIR health and well being affected, multiple flats received just ONE survey letter, RR residents that were promised online voting codes – never received them, there was no deadline date on the survey letters! The list goes on and on. So Complain, Complain, COMPLAIN!! And when you receive a numbered response from SCC, please forward a copy to CMtrees@outlook.com. -Complain that Streets Ahead (which Cllr Fox is responsible for) is not compliant with the UK Forestry Standard, which recommends the sustainable management of the urban forest resource. -Complain that SCC are not monitoring or enforcing the work that Amey are conducting across the city, in breach of the industry guidelines they say they are compliant with, allowing reckless damage to roots and trunks of retained trees. -Complain that Cllr Fox repeatedly states in the media that ‘Felling is ALWAYS the last resort’, yet it appears to be the FIRST option chosen when any tree-related difficulties are encountered. Complain that The 50K new planted trees that Cllr Fox keeps mentioning, have nothing whatsoever to do with Streets Ahead! They are part of a cost saving programme via The Parks & Countryside Department called "Turf to Tree", which aims to reduce mowing costs by planting up areas of parks with trees - grant funded by The Forestry Commission! - In addition to all of the above, The Streets Ahead project is in breach of both the Arhus convention (justice in environmental matters) AND European Directive 2001/42/EC, which is legislation on the preservation and protection of the environment. Please send open letters regarding this issue to The Star: letters@thestar.co.uk. Continue to spotlight the roads like Humphrey Road in Greenhill, which has been completely stripped of all 10 of it's trees! More on this hugely tragic story on STAG's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=156262924731261&set=pcb.503896233120804&type=3&theater. If we want to keep our trees, we are going to have to FIGHT for them in every manner possible. Now is the time for COMPLAINTS and PUBLIC SHAMING. We are complaining about Cllr Fox and Sheffield City Council, because THIS is where the failure lies. Amey is just a company working to a contract - IT IS *SCC* that is supposed to be setting the standards AND monitoring AND enforcing Amey's work. Finally a big THANK YOU for your continued dedication to our amazing, mature trees in Sheffield. Let’s keep the pressure on SCC! All the best Save Nether Edge Trees