Dear Wayne
 
Re: Freedom of Information Request – Reference FOI/2989
 
Thank you for your recent request for information regarding Tree felling, which we received on 18/11/2016.
 
Please find below, Sheffield City Council’s response to your request:
 
How many had protected status (IE are over 100 years old)
Sheffield city council does not utilise tree preservation orders for its Highway trees
How much did it cost to fell the trees. Please provide invoices.
The Streets Ahead contract with Amey is for the delivery of a complete highway maintenance service which the replacement of trees etc.  Payments made by the Council under the contract do not relate to the provision of specific items of work. Instead, a single payment is made for each month of the 25 year term of the contract. As a result, we do not have a figure for the costs incurred by Amey for the felling of trees.
How much did the council sell the timber for.
Trees removed are generally used in the biomass industry where it is recognised that around £200 per tonne is the retail rate.  Amey, however, work with local community enterprises, charities and community groups to ensure maximum benefit to the local community, as opposed to profitability.
Why are the council instructing such works at anti social hours...  Ie  people are sleeping at 5a m and you wake them up.
We hold no data on this.
Please provide any risk assessment for these trees.
To source and provide the Risk Assessments for all 3300 trees would exceed the 18 hour limit for handling FOI requests. In this case to locate, retrieve and extract the requested information would likely well exceed the cost limit for dealing with FOI requests under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. For ease of reference, the cost limit (18hours or £450) is specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 No. 3244).
 
I hope the information we have provided is of help to your enquiries.  If you have any queries about this response, please do not hesitate to contact us.
 
If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request, you are entitled to have this reviewed.  You can ask for an internal review by either writing to the above address or by emailing [E-bost cais Sheffield City Council].
 
If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your internal review, you can contact the Information Commissioners Office. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, telephone 0303 123 1113, or for further details see their website www.ico.org.uk
 
Kind Regards,
 
Resources Business Support
Moorfoot Level 8 West Wing
Sheffield S1 4PL
Tel : 0114 20 53478
E-mail : FOI @sheffield.gov.uk
? Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to
 
 
 
 
_____________________________________________
From: Wayne Pearsall [mailto:[Cais Rhyddid Gwybodaeth e-bost #372298 ]]
Sent: 18 November 2016 22:42
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Tree felling
 
 
Can you please clarify precisely what information you are hoping to obtain? On initial review it is not clear which questions related to which elements of your request. We have noted our initial interpretation of your request below, please indicate if we have interpreted any elements incorrectly and provided responses to the questions raised. This is an initial clarification and we may need to come back to you at a later date if we need to re-clarify any elements of the information you’ve requested when we are locating the relevant data.
 
Initially we consider this request to be targeted at Highways trees rather that trees within Parks or our commercial forestry action.
 
Sheffield City Council has felled more than 3,300 trees since 2012.
 
Please confirm if this is the timescale from which you are requesting information i.e. 2012 to date or another timescale i.e. the last calendar/ financial year?
 
Can you please provide the following information...
 
How many had protected status (IE are over 100 years old)
 
Please confirm if you are interested in trees which have been deemed necessary for protection under a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) under Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012. Please note that age is not key to the decision whether an order will be issued for a particular tree i.e. trees are not automatically protected on reaching/ being estimated to be over 100 years old.
 
How much did it cost to fell the trees. Please provide invoices.
 
Please confirm whether you are specifically interested in solely highways trees subject to a TPO.
 
How much did the council sell the timber for.
 
Again please confirm if this solely relates to trees subject to a TPO?
 
Why are the council instructing such works at anti social hours...  Ie people are sleeping at 5a m and you wake them up.
 
We presume this is a reference to the recent felling at Rustlings Road Sheffield and will review in this respect unless you wish to clarify this interpretation.
 
Please provide any risk assessment for these trees.
 
Again please confirm if this is related to the tree felling on Rustlings Road as following on from the question above; or if you are hoping to obtain these details solely for trees felled that were subject to a TPO?
 
Dear Sheffield City Council,
 
Sheffield City Council has felled more than 3,300 trees since 2012.
 
Can you please provide the following information...
 
How many had protected status (IE are over 100 years old)
 
How much did it cost to fell the trees. Please provide invoices.
 
How much did the council sell the timber for.
 
Why are the council instructing such works at anti social hours...  Ie people are sleeping at 5a m and you wake them up.
 
Please provide any risk assessment for these trees.
 
Yours faithfully,
Wayne Pearsall
 
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