Court lifts injunction on council and contractor felling trees in £2.2bn project

Sheffield City Council has persuaded the High Court to lift an injunction that prohibited the local authority and its contractor Amey from felling trees as part of its £2.2bn ‘Streets Ahead’ project.

The injunction had been granted to David Dillner in February, with Mr Justice Dove concluding that the claim had sufficient merit to justify the grant of interim relief pending further investigation of its prospects of success.

The claimant argued that Sheffield’s consultation was improper and that consideration should have been given to assessing the cumulative effects of the project under the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

The council halted all tree felling while the injunction was in place.

Mr Justice Gilbart lifted the injunction following a hearing last week. He is expected to give a written judgment explaining his reasons in early April.

Simon Green, Executive Director for Place from Sheffield City Council, said: “We are delighted that the court has agreed with the council’s case to have the tree injunction lifted. However, we have been clear throughout that we want to make sure that our work with communities on this issue is right, so we will not resume the full street tree replacement programme until we have had the court’s final decision. We will of course continue to assess our trees and replace those that are dangerous.”

Dillner, a member of the Sheffield Trees Action Group, raised £14,650 through crowd funding in order to be able to bring the proceedings. He was also granted a protective costs order by the court, set at £5,000.