Sheffield union leaders urge rethink on tree-felling in U-turn over protest campaign
Tagged with: #airpollution, #chainsawmassacre, #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Tree-hugging protesters take back control in Sheffield | FT.com
The struggle to save a city’s trees divides people and politicians
Trees breathe life into our urban landscapes, a reminder of the natural world amid the city smog. Even the most mild-mannered, stoical Brits can be radicalised to defend their place in our leafy streets.
In the northern city of Sheffield a dispute over mass tree felling has inflamed bourgeois passions and awakened unprecedented levels of civic activism. The local authority has sanctioned chopping down thousands of oaks, purportedly to address the city’s potholes and buckling pavements: 17,500 trees — half of the city’s population — face the axe as part of the 25-year “tree management strategy”.
Furious residents have taken to the streets, leading to dramatic stand-offs with the police officers sent out to enforce the private contractor Amey’s ability to cut down and remove the trees. The protesters claim that many of the trees classed for removal as “dead, dying, diseased, damaging or dangerous” are safe and sturdy, but the authorities seem to believe it is simpler to cut down a tree than fix a wonky curb.
The torrid scenes include retirees out on early-morning patrols to spot the high-vis vests of Amey’s felling teams. The axemen are then blocked by tree-huggers, until police and private security teams undertake their forcible removal. The resulting injunctions and arrests have caused outrage, but there is a community carnival aspect to the resistance too. Local hero Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of the band Pulp (who once sang “those useless trees produce the air that I am breathing”) helped give musical voice to a fundraising concert.
Sheffield’s tree-felling scandal has gone national. Michael Gove, environment secretary and latterly the Conservative party’s own rainbow warrior, has sailed into the dispute claiming he will do “anything required” to end this “environmental vandalism”.
It is not clear what exactly the environment secretary can do (he may not intend to wrap himself around a tree). Yet he grasps why this dispute matters. The mistakes made by the council speak to all that is currently troubled about British public life and the disconnection between public services, outsourcing companies and the communities they serve.
Felling has been temporarily halted in the wake of a BBC film that focused on heavy-handed policing and showed Sheffield City Council’s Labour leader refusing to answer questions. Chopping, however, has been paused before; the battle is far from won. Amey was licensed as part of a £2.2bn deal struck, as with most public service contracts, with a view to minimising the costs.
Sheffield Council claimed there was no numerical target for removing trees, but a freedom of information request revealed otherwise. If fewer than the target number of trees go, the Sheffield taxpayer will be on the line — officials call it “a financial adjustment”. The current council leadership resolutely defends the strategy, aware of the huge costs if they U-turn.
Were the previous set of councillors, who agreed the contract, naive or just under pressure after seven years of austerity? When the Conservatives took power in 2010, health and foreign aid were ringfenced and councils were exposed to the harshest cuts. A further 77 per cent cut of funding from central government will take place before 2020. Against this background, local councils lack the capacity and resources to negotiate robustly with contractors.
Nothing says a lack of control like watching trees come crashing down outside your house while being helplessly restrained by an unflinching security guard
The tree dispute reveals the problems of inexperienced local politicians. Belligerent councillors are taking voters for saps — unwilling to concede they have lost their trust. One solution is the growing ranks of metro mayors: directly elected supremos who speak for bunched-together regions of cities and towns. The groupings are sometimes awkward but the positions attract high-calibre candidates — former cabinet minister Andy Burnham in Manchester, for example, and ex-John Lewis boss Andy Street in the West Midlands.
Sheffield will soon have its own metro mayor. It could be Dan Jarvis, a soldier-turned-MP who was once the future of the Labour party. Assuming Mr Jarvis is elected in May, his first task will be to rebuild relations between Sheffield’s voters and their representatives.
The slogan “Take back control” was responsible more than anything else for the UK’s Brexit vote. Aligning leaving the EU with regaining a sense of purpose spoke to what many Britons care about.
Nothing provokes a feeling of lack of control like watching trees come crashing down outside your house while being helplessly restrained by an unflinching security guard. Tackling populism in all forms depends on renewing the British sense of community. In Sheffield, the fightback has begun by rescuing those “useless” trees.
Thanks for the original article:
https://amp.ft.com/content/c5270924-326f-11e8-b5bf-23cb17fd1498
Tagged with: #airpollution, #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
The ‘green’ massacre of Sheffield | El Mundo
Half of the 36,000 trees on its streets were sentenced to felling
Thirty neighbors have been arrested in the protests
Some call themselves ‘squirrels’, others ‘rabbits’, others ‘lizards’. The residents of Sheffield have decided to reincarnate in the urban fauna to protect their green fronds. Almost half of the 36,000 trees on its streets were sentenced to massive logging, undertaken two years ago by the company Amey (a subsidiary of Ferrovial) and with the approval of the Labor Council.
What nobody counted on was the fierce neighborhood opposition to the ‘green’ massacre. Citizens hung the sign “Save Me” on the trunks and organized into brigades of rapid action, such as saved in extremis the venerable centennial elm survivor grafiosis in Chelsea Road. There were also demonstrations to avoid the felling of the cherry trees of Abbeydale Park Rise, the lime trees of Meersbrook Street and the oaks that dot the undulating geography of Sheffield (the city with the most trees per capita in Europe).
Thirty neighbors have been arrested in the protests. Environment Minister Michael Gove called the logging “ecological vandalism” and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg denounced the “national scandal” in the news. Given the growing pressure and the threat of intervention by the Government itself, the City Council has backed off this week and ordered the break.
“It’s a temporary victory, we’re not going to lower our guard,” warns Chris Rust, the retired professor, treasurer and indefatigable activist of Sheffield Tree Action Groups (STAG). “ Almost 6,000 trees have already been cleared , many of them unnecessarily, we are going to demand an indefinite moratorium on logging and a complete revision of the plans, we are going to ask that citizens be taken into account.”
Eleven of the twelve trees on the little street where Rust himself lives were sentenced with the fateful yellow ties, which weigh like a sentence on the trunks. “There are sick trees and others that for safety reasons must be cut down, ” Rust recalls. “But we refuse to cut it down because it is cheaper for the contractor to look for a treatment, a remedy or a small work on public roads.”
The wrath of the neighbors has been addressed to date to the City Council and the company Amey, “we would like to know what Ferrovial thinks and find out if there has been an environmental impact report,” says Rust. “Everything they have done so far has been in the greatest of secrets and that has ignited even more the public indignation.”
“After all, the contract is executing a job with the approval of the City Council, which has shown total disdain for the neighbors,” denounces the Aljama Teal Green Party councilor, who fears that the pause is due to the imminence of the elections local . “The trees are essential to clean the air and improve the health and quality of life of the citizens.The responsibility of the local government is to keep them, but not to cut them down at the slightest excuse.”
10,000 trees need treatment
The City Council, headed by Labor leader Julie Dore, sealed a “private financing initiative” (PFI) for the maintenance of public roads, renamed Streets Ahead . The company Amey took the contract estimated at 2,300 million euros over 25 years, including the strategy of tree maintenance. An independent survey, conducted a decade ago, estimated that at least 10,000 needed treatment and that about 1,000 should be replaced.
A spokesman for Amey said that the felling has been done according to criteria of “dangerousness, safety and health” of the trees themselves, which are replaced by others of the same species “whenever appropriate.” The company has acknowledged that the relentless resistance of the neighbors has made the work extremely difficult in recent weeks, and that its workers had to work protected by security guards and police.
“How are you going to replace a centuries-old elm tree like Chelsea Road, which is in perfect health, has been adopted by the residents of the street and has an irreplaceable colony of autochthonous butterflies ?” Asks Chris Rust . “The solution, we were told, was to relocate the butterfly colony and stop a huge hole in the street, similar to those that already exist in many other parts of the city.”
“We are going to remain vigilant,” warns Ann Anderson, in the role of ‘guardian’ of the trees from her viewpoint on Brinkbun Drive. “We have a strategy to mobilize forty activists in a matter of minutes, able to surround any tree and avoid being cut down if it is not necessary.” There was a moment when we almost gave up the battle for loss, but the pendulum has been on our side What has happened in Sheffield has to serve as a warning to many cities: we can not allow them to wipe out vegetation in our cities, in the name of privatization and efficiency. “
Original article:
http://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/ciencia/2018/03/27/5aba5f70e5fdea7a0c8b4581.html
Felling of Sheffield trees pauses offering a chance to review the evidence – Trees for Cities
Sheffield City Council’s announcement that it is to pause felling of street trees is timely after the Woodland Trust and Trees for Cities presented evidence to the council questioning its tree felling assessments
Three weeks after submitting an independent report, Sheffield City Council (SCC) has yet to respond to Trees for Cities’ and the Woodland Trust’s offer to fund a more cost effective and appropriate solution to save the Vernon Oak, leaving the future of the tree uncertain.
During the long running debate over the future of the Vernon Oak, one of the most iconic trees in Sheffield, residents and organisations have repeatedly argued that there is no need for such exaggerated measures as suggested by Sheffield City Council to tackle the supposed conflict between this 150-year-old oak tree, and the highway and footpath constructed around it.
In late 2017, Trees for Cities, working with the Woodland Trust, made the bold offer to find funding for an alternative solution – one that would see the tree retained and resolve the conflicts suggested by SCC. Retention, we were told, would require funding in the region of £10,000 which subsequent investigations have proved to be a gross overestimation. A report commissioned by the charities also put forward cases where such issues were shown not to pose a significant threat to public safety and could be managed in much more measured ways. Since then, both charities have been waiting for a response from SCC, but the council has yet to agree or dismiss the charities’ solution.
David Elliott, CEO of Trees for Cities said:
We have contacted Sheffield City Council with a measured and cost effective solution to save the Vernon Oak, but it remains to be seen whether they will take the recommendations on board and act on evidence put forward by a highly regarded and experienced independent highways consultant. We urge the council to act reasonably, and preserve this tree, and the city’s reputation as one of the greenest in Europe.
Beccy Speight, CEO, Woodland Trust said:
A legitimate solution has been put forward at no cost to the council other than its pride. Passions are running high on all sides but decisions must be based on fact. An independent assessment concludes that the Vernon Oak does not need to be felled, and counters claims that to retain it would cost £10,000 showing Sheffield City Council’s estimate is enormously over inflated.
This also casts doubt on decisions made for other healthy trees that face the axe as part of the Amey contract. We echo Trees for Cities calls for a measured response and once again offer our support to help broker solutions and find a better way forward.
The Yorkshire Post says: Don’t blame the tree protesters – Sheffield Council in a deeper hole
THE pragmatists might have hailed Sheffield City Council’s decision to suspend its tree-felling programme as a victory for common sense after this act of environmental vandalism earned national notoriety.
Meanwhile the more cynical will point to the suspension’s timing, and how the ruling Labour group, headed by the embattled council leader Julie Dore, could simply be looking to stem the protests until after the local elections on May 3.
It’s neither. By appearing to blame the “increasingly dangerous tactics” of protesters, Sheffield Council is both misguided and totally oblivious to the late Labour peer Denis Healey’s ‘first law of holes’. “When you’re in one, stop digging,” the former Chancellor once ventured
The authority’s short-sightedness – coupled with over-zealous policing on the part of the equally troubled South Yorkshire Police force – has been nothing short of scandalous. Its continued obfuscation over the £2.2bn highways maintenance deal with private sector contractor Amey has brought the city, and council, into disrepute. And, despite calls from Environment Secretary Michael Gove, his Labour counterpart Sue Hayman and many others to think again, Coun Dore – and her team – have stubbornly refused to do so.
Given this particular ‘pause’ is not the olive branch that so many had been seeking as relations between the council, and local communities, deteriorate, the onus is now back on Mr Gove and Ms Hayman. At the very least, arborists need to be brought in to carry out a root-and-branch review of this policy to help councillors see the proverbial wood from the trees. For, if this had already happened, residents would not be taking to the streets in such numbers to highlight the difference between healthy trees which are being felled – and those which deserve the chop because they’re diseased and dangerous.
Original article:
#saveshefftrees Round Up – Monday March 26th 2018
HIGH , LOWER AND LOWEST
THE HIGH – possibly…
Sheffield City Council announces they are “pausing” the tree fellings for “several weeks”.
See STAG FB page and STAG NEWS FB to join in the celebration, find out the details and have your say in all the (rather excited) discussions.
Very pleased and it’s time to talk but SCC do remember, be straight with us, WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY.
LOWER – because…
Right now let’s look at what Sheffield City Council ACTUALLY said in their announcement:
“Since 2012 we have been carrying out the biggest investment Sheffield’s highway network has ever seen, resurfacing the majority of roads and pavements across the city.
(BLOWING THEIR HORN)
“However, in the past year or so the actions of a handful of people unlawfully entering the safety zones where tree replacement work is being carried out has meant that it has become increasingly difficult for Amey to complete the programme without danger to staff and members of the public.
(Same old, same old, “ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE”)
“Given the increasingly dangerous tactics that have been seen in recent months, Amey have had to employ security staff at tree replacement sites.
(Given THEIR increasingly dangerous tactics)
“In the interests of both residents and staff, Amey are exploring options for completing the work and will present these options to the council. During this review period, only trees which are dangerous will be worked on.
(DOES NOT sound like talking to all relevant groups to find an appropriate solution to me)
“Any necessary emergency work will continue to be carried out in this time and the wider programme will resume once this review is complete.”
( “Necessary emergency work” – GOOD.)
(“wider programme will resume once this review is complete – SOUNDS OMINOUS)
LOWEST – Rock bottom actually.
Today Benoit was due in court at 2:30pm accused of assault during a much disputed incident on Abbeydale Park Rise. He was called by the police and told that his court appearance time had been changed and brought forward to 9:30am.
When he arrived he asked which court his 9:30am court appearance would take place in.
He was told he was not on the list for the morning.
Puzzled by the British legal system he went back outside to be met by FIVE plain clothes detectives who arrested him for another offense, slapped handcuffs on him and carted him off to Shepcot Lane to sit in a cell for some hours. We do not yet know what the second offense is.
Tricked, not given his day in court and arrested by five police.
This is the lowest today.
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL
BENOIT WE SUPPORT YOU
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY.
Sheffield council pauses tree-felling scheme after criticism | UK news | The Guardian
Sheffield city council has announced an immediate pause of its controversial tree-felling scheme after a barrage of criticism.
Thousands of trees assessed as dead, dying, dangerous or diseased have been cut down under a £2bn project to improve the condition of the streets.
However, campaigners who oppose the scheme believe many of the felled trees are healthy.
Michael Gove, the environment secretary, said on Sunday he would “do anything” to stop what he described as the “environmental vandalism”.
A spokeswoman for Sheffield city council confirmed to the Guardian that the tree-felling was being paused for a few weeks.
The announcement will be met with relief and some scepticism by campaigners who have fought a long battle to save the street trees, of which 5,500 have been felled amid scores of arrests.
The Labour-run council began felling old street trees in 2012 under a 25-year private finance initiative (PFI) contract with Amey called Streets Ahead.
Despite sustained criticism of the project, the authority has repeatedly refused to suspend or cancel the works and has said it would be liable to pay millions of pounds in penalties if it terminated the deal.
Asked if the government would step in to help pay contract termination penalties, Gove said on Sunday: “We will make sure that we will do anything that is required in order to stop this.”
He also said the council had been “strong-armed and draconian” with citizens who had tried to protest, and called on the Labour leadership to intervene.
Sue Hayman, the shadow environment secretary, wrote to the council last week offering to formally mediate in the dispute.
In a statement, the council said it was halting tree-felling work temporarily due to “the actions of a handful of people unlawfully entering the safety zones where tree replacement work is being carried out”.
The council said it had become increasingly difficult to carry out the work without endangering the safety of staff or residents and that Amey was reviewing the scheme’s safety.
However, it said the wider programme would continue once the safety review was complete. It added: “Given the increasingly dangerous tactics that have been seen in recent months, Amey have had to employ security staff at tree replacement sites.
“In the interests of both residents and staff, Amey are exploring options for completing the work and will present these options to the council. During this review period, only trees which are dangerous will be worked on.”
Alison Teal, a Green party councillor in Sheffield, said she had a “cynical” view of the council’s motives. “The local elections are on 3 May and I’m guessing Labour canvassing returns aren’t looking good. It’s likely they’re hoping a pause will protect Labour from a growing backlash.”
This month a freedom of information request revealed that the council’s PFI deal specifies that up to 17,500 trees – half the city’s 36,000 trees – could be felled as part of the work to maintain the roads and pavements
Sheffield council’s cabinet member for the environment, Bryan Lodge, denied that the 17,500 figure was a target, but the revelation prompted three of the city’s Labour MPs to call for an end to the programme
Tagged with: #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News, Uncategorized
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News, Uncategorized
The city where sanity has turned to sawdust | The Times
Sheffield council’s blockheaded destruction of its glorious trees is the worst of philistine, Stalinist, municipal Labour.
It had the air of a public execution. One where the condemned was innocent, the crowd aghast and even the hangman looked ashamed. The 90ft lime was the sixth tree to be felled on Chatsworth Road: healthy, blameless, 100 years old but destroyed just the same.
Sheffield’s Labour council, we learn this week, has a target to cut down half its street trees. Yes, a target, regardless of actual need. A £2.2 billion highway maintenance deal with the private company Amey specifies that 17,500 trees must fall. Otherwise, Amey or the council or both — we don’t even know since, scandalously, the contract is redacted — may face financial penalties.
Yet one thing is certain: Amey is coming for the trees. In Sheffield’s leafy residential streets yellow ribbons flutter. Around a grove of ornamental cherries, so loved by residents they bear fairy lights all year long; around the Vernon Oak which predates the city and once marked a field; around a rare, disease-survivor elm; around every elegant London plane on Ladysmith Avenue except one. All doomed.
But why? Amey claims they break up pavements, making them impassable for wheelchairs and prams. But the yellow-ribbon trees I see have, at worst, pushed out a kerbstone. Amey is supposed to offer “engineering solutions” for such trifles and only fell as a last resort. My own street has towering limes and even hard-up Southwark works around them. Indeed, several tree officers of London boroughs have expressed professional disgust at Sheffield’s civic vandalism. Yet, locked into this insane contract, still the chainsaws whine.
Amey arrived early on Thursday morning, blocked Chatsworth Road, erected steel barriers to cage the condemned tree. Guarding inside were Amey’s ten private security guards, burly Scottish ex-nightclub bouncers. Guarding outside were 24 South Yorkshire police officers. Whole van-loads! Enough to convict a Rotherham grooming gang. Instead they faced about 20 protesters, one dressed as a squirrel. These aren’t Swampy social justice warriors: most are pensioners or parents, those free to hurtle across the city at short notice, or just ordinary residents suddenly politicised by the travesty on their street. One of them, Ann, is in tears: she’d sat under this tree from 6.30am protecting it for weeks, but this fatal morning was at work.
On Wednesday a woman was arrested for blowing a plastic trumpet, so today everyone has turned up with kazoos. Despite the good-natured atmosphere, feelings have hardened since the Battle of Rustlings Road in 2016 when the council, ignoring the explicit findings of its independent tree panel, cut down eight healthy mature limes. Now protesters are often arrested for aggravated trespass then, as a condition of release, must not attend another protest. Some face hefty legal bills. On a snowy day, police called social services to menace a mother who’d brought along her child.
Later, after the chipper has pulverised the twigs, and lumberjacks are lopping off the trunk, slice by thick slice, I watch an older woman called Jackie, one arm in a sling, the other clutching a pink, plastic recorder, being bundled into a van. Her friend, a lady vicar, shouts “Hang on, Jackie, you’ve got my house keys!” and is arrested too for allegedly assaulting a policeman with her tambourine. It would be comical if it wasn’t so sad.
The protesters cite studies on how trees absorb pollution, release oxygen, calm troubled urban souls. But ecological benefits are not the true issue here. People just love old trees: these giants who were here before us, whose roots reach into our history, who will outlive us all. They are daunting yet vulnerable, quotidian yet irreplaceable. It’s about beauty and not everyone sees it.
Not the angry man on Chatsworth Road who tells me he’s glad to be shot of the bloody tree. Its sap coats his car, its leaves clog his guttering and cost him £70 a year. Some Sheffield people can’t see the problem with the puny replacement saplings Amey will plant: tidy, cheaper to maintain. They’ll be even happier when someone invents wipe-clean, plastic trees.
That same philistine utilitarianism infests the most Stalinist strands of municipal Labour. Tear down the art deco cinema, kill the villagey skyline with an overbearing block, carve a vast highway through the valley fit for ZiL limousines. The working class needs roads and houses and non-slip, leaf-free pavements; only the middle class would complain.
Yet this mysterious, utterly needless Sheffield tree affair has a David Peace novel, northern gothic air. Why must the contract be secret? (Only a protester’s FoI request revealed the 17,500 target.) How can so much police manpower, paid for by Sheffield citizens, be justified to enforce a private contract? Why does the council press on, even accelerating the felling, against such an outpouring of anger and grief? This is the heavy-handed, political opacity of Russia or Naples.
But South Yorkshire is a virtual one-party state: lack of opposition scrutiny led to Rotherham abuse scandals and the backhanders of Donnygate. Labour holds 56 out of Sheffield’s 84 council seats. The council leader, Julie Dore, has ignored entreaties from local MPs, Michael Gove condemning the destruction as “mad and bad” and turned down offers by the shadow environment minister Sue Hayman to act as mediator. She refuses to answer questions about trees.
Meanwhile in Chatsworth Road the barriers come down, the lorry rumbles off, carrying the body of the old lime turned to lumber. The avenue planted by Julie Dore’s civic forebears has another gaping hole. One more yellow ribbon left on this street, but thousands elsewhere. “Shame on you!” shout the protesters at Amey, the council, the police, and we all stare at the bare stump with sawdust in our hair.
Original article here
Tagged with: #airpollution, #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Woman with pink recorder arrested over Sheffield tree felling protest | UK news | The Guardian
Protester with broken arm was among 40 ‘tree protectors’ who failed to stop felling of an old lime tree.
A newly ordained vicar armed with a tambourine and a woman with a broken arm and a pink glittery recorder are among the latest protesters to be arrested in Sheffield while trying to halt the destruction of the city’s trees.
The arrests have provided further ammunition to the environment secretary, Michael Gove, who has accused Sheffield city council of “environmental vandalism” and promised to do “anything required” to end its controversial tree-felling programme.
The two women were arrested on Thursday as they protested against the felling of lime trees on Chatsworth Road in the wealthy Dore area of Sheffield.
They were among a group of about 40 “tree protectors” who tried and failed to protect an old lime tree named the Duchess. They demonstrated with an array of noise-making instruments, showing solidarity with a woman who was arrested on Wednesday after tooting a plastic trumpet and setting off a rape alarm after telling police that council contractors were “raping the trees”.
According to Sally Goldsmith, the first woman to be arrested on Chatsworth Road was “a middle-aged lady with a broken arm and a pink glittery recorder”. She was arrested while allegedly obstructing the truck that arrived to take away wood from the felled Duchess.
The second person, according to Goldsmith, was a vicar with a tambourine, who was arrested for chasing after the first woman, who had her car keys.
According to the protesters’ blog, the vicar was later released without charge from Snig Hill custody suite.
On Friday Gove gave an interview to the BBC in which he said the council had been “strong-armed and draconian” with citizens who had tried to protest, and called on the Labour leadership to intervene.
He has been accused by his Labour counterpart of bandwagon-jumping. Sue Hyman, the shadow environment secretary, has written to the council offering to formally mediate.
“Practical solutions and sensible dialogue are what is needed, not jumping on political bandwagons and throwing fuel on the fire, as we have seen from Michael Gove,” she wrote.
South Yorkshire police confirmed that two women were arrested on Chatsworth Road on Thursday. The first, a 56-year-old woman, arrested for obstructing the highway, was released under investigation; and the second, 53, agreed to take part in restorative justice after being held on suspicion of obstructing a constable. A 50-year-old man was also arrested for obstruction on Heathfield Street in the Frecheville area of Sheffield on Friday, the force said.
Thursday’s arrests were soundtracked by the inaugural performance of the Chatsworth Tree Voice Choir, accompanied by the tooting instruments, very few in tune.
They serenaded officers from South Yorkshire police with songs including the theme from Z Cars and A Policeman’s Lot from the Gilbert and Sullivan musical, The Pirates of Penzance, Goldsmith said.
On Friday morning a student scaled the last remaining lime tree on Chatsworth Road. He did not want to give his name but is known as Young Swampy 2 – in homage to the notorious tree protester from the Newbury Bypass protests of the 1990s.
On Friday police said they had charged a man after a protest on Rivelin Valley Road on Tuesday. Justin Buxton, 47, was charged with obstruction of the highway and is due to appear before Sheffield magistrates court on 24 April.
A 47-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment under Section 4a of the Public Order Act 1986, has been bailed with conditions.
A freedom of information request has revealed that the council’s 25-year private finance initiative (PFI) deal with the contractor Amey specifies that as many as 17,500 trees – half of the city’s 36,000 trees – could be felled as part of the work to maintain the city’s roads and pavements.
More here:
Sheffield tree-felling: Gove will ‘do anything’ to end row – BBC News
Environment Secretary Michael Gove has accused Sheffield City Council of “environmental vandalism” and promised to do “anything required” to end its controversial tree-felling programme.
Thousands of trees, assessed as dead, dying, diseased, damaging or dangerous, have been cut down.
Campaigners say healthy trees have also been lost.
The Labour-run authority said it was “again disappointed” at Mr Gove’s “unsubstantiated comments”.
The tree-felling is part of the £2bn 25-year Streets Ahead project and has seen about 5,500 trees cut down since 2012.
Work is being done under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract the council has with Amey.
The authority will have penalties to pay if it terminates the deal and so far has refused to suspend or renegotiate it.
Asked if the government would step in to help pay contract termination penalties, Mr Gove replied: “We will make sure that we will do anything that is required in order to stop this.”
He also said the council had been “strong-armed and draconian” with citizens who had tried to protest, and called on the Labour leadership to intervene.
Campaigners have taken direct action to try to prevent trees being felled and numerous arrests have been made.
Alleged offences range from assault and criminal damage to highway obstruction and trespass.
In one instance a woman, aged in her 60s, was arrested for blowing a horn.
Lord Scriven, Liberal Democrat peer and former council leader, has criticised the police’s handling of protests.
He complained that on some occasions more than 30 officers were present at the removal of just one tree.
Former Liberal Democrat leader and ex-Sheffield MP Nick Clegg has described the felling as a “national scandal” and the several of the city’s MPs have urged the council to call a halt.
Sheffield Tree Action Groups (STAG) has said residents are determined to continue their campaign against felling.
“The city can’t go on this way,” it said.
“[The council] has to admit that this PFI contract is a disaster and find a different way forward.”
‘Political bandwagons’
Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, Sue Hayman, has written to the council offering to formally mediate.
She said: “Nobody wants to see much-loved, healthy trees felled.
“Despite the fact that more trees will be planted by the end of the works than will be removed, I have urged Sheffield Council to exhaust all alternative options to felling the remaining trees and to fully acknowledge the environmental and community significance that these trees have.
“Practical solutions and sensible dialogue are what is needed, not jumping on political bandwagons and throwing fuel on the fire, as we have seen from Michael Gove.”
Bryan Lodge, council cabinet member for the environment, said Conservatives had supported the contract and that the PFI model was used at central government’s instruction.
He said the council addressed Mr Gove’s various claims in 2017 and repeated that it was doing “what the majority of Sheffield residents want”.
“Each and every tree which is removed is being replaced,” Mr Lodge said.
Meanwhile an Amey spokesperson said: “We believe Streets Ahead is a good contract but we appreciate that the street tree replacement work has caused concern and are committed to working with the Council for the duration of the contract.
“We do not recognise reports that we have been unwilling to negotiate, however, any renegotiation would result in practical or financial changes.”
“There will be more street trees in Sheffield by the end of the programme. In the last three years, the council has planted over 65,000 trees in Sheffield, which is now home to around 4.5 million trees in total.
“We are not simply replacing trees because we take any satisfaction in doing so, but to ensure that we future-proof our green credentials.”
Referring to the recent arrests of protesters, he said the council supported peaceful campaigning and protest but would not tolerate unlawful actions.
Dr Alan Billings, the police and crime commissioner for South Yorkshire, has said the numbers protesting has increased significantly and the decision by the council to take out an injunction against protesters had “raised the temperature”.
He has commissioned an independent report to assess the policing of tree felling incidents.
More here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-43492887
Jeremy Corbyn ‘backs calls for Sheffield tree-felling work to be paused’
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is backing calls for controversial tree-felling work in Sheffield to be paused, The Yorkshire Post understands.
Mr Corbyn is yet to speak publicly on the row between the city’s Labour-led council and campaigners over the felling of thousands of street trees under a £2.2bn PFI highways maintenance deal despite 12,000 people signing a petition urging him to intervene.
But The Yorkshire Post understands Mr Corbyn supports his shadow Environment Secretary Sue Hayman’s recent call for the work to be put on hold. She has offered to mediate in discussions between the council and protesters.
It comes as political pressure mounts on the council, with Environment Secretary Michael Gove warning today of potential Government intervention. Earlier this month, a year-long Freedom of Information battle resulted in Sheffield Council revealing its contract with private firm Amey contains a target to fell 17,500 of the city’s 36,000 street trees and replace them with saplings.
In recent weeks, dozens of police and security guards have been attending felling operations, with 16 arrests made – including one incident where a woman was arrested for blowing a horn.
One man has been charged with obstruction of the highway and will appear in court next month.
Three Sheffield MPs – Labour’s Louise Haigh and Paul Blomfield, as well as Jared O’Mara, who is currently suspended from the party – have all called on the council to put the work on hold.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC on Friday that the council was committing “environmental vandalism” and when asked if the Government would step in to help pay contract termination penalties, Mr Gove replied: “We will make sure that we will do anything that is required in order to stop this.”
Sheffield Council cabinet member for environment Bryan Lodge said Mr Gove’s comments were “uninformed” and “the majority of the people in our city want the work to go ahead”.
In a statement posted on her website, Labour’s shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman said she was keeping Jeremy Corbyn’s office up to date with developments after speaking to Sheffield MPs and the council on the issue.
She said: “Due to the importance of this issue, I have kept the Labour Leader’s office informed of progress. “I have had conversations separately with Cabinet Member Cllr Bryan Lodge and Leader of the Council Cllr Julie Dore to discuss concerns in relation to the tree felling. My concerns have been followed up formally in a letter where I have also reiterated my offer of assistance in mediating the situation between protesters and the council to try and find a way through.
“Nobody wants to see much loved, healthy trees felled. Despite the fact that more trees will be planted by the end of the works than will be removed, I have urged Sheffield Council to exhaust all alternative options to felling the remaining trees and to fully acknowledge the environmental and community significance that these trees have.
“My formal offer to help mediate the situation and my request for Sheffield to pause the works to explore other options still stands. Practical solutions and sensible dialogue are what is needed, not jumping on political bandwagons and throwing fuel on the fire as we have seen from Michael Gove.
“I will endeavour to provide updates on this matter and continue to offer my support in finding a way through the current situation in Sheffield.”
The Sheffield Tree Action Groups, made up of campaigners across the city, have written to her to request a meeting.
The council is yet to respond to The Yorkshire Post in relation to Sue Hayman’s comments. Council says work is ‘supported by majority’
The councillor in charge of the contentious tree-felling policy has claimed that the Streets Ahead highways improvement contract “is delivering what the people of Sheffield want”.
Coun Bryan Lodge said the PFI model for the contract was introduced at the Government’s insistence and tree replacement work is being carried out “to future-proof our green credentials”.
He added he believes the majority of people in Sheffield support the council.
“We remain confident that the contract is delivering what the people of Sheffield want. Satisfaction with the condition of the city’s roads, has doubled in the last ten years.”
#saveshefftrees Round Up – March 22nd 2018 – RIP Duchess
Rivelin Valley Road proved to be a decoy “felling” this morning. There were 5 stony faced Security Staff standing around for a while backed up to a wall and two, somewhat smug looking, Acorn employees sitting in their van parked in the Fire Station car park. The six tree protectors who arrived soon got word that the actual felling was going to take place elsewhere.
The real target was a beautiful Lime tree named “Duchess” on Chatsworth Road.
Duchess was rapidly surrounded by the Heras barriers and between 25 and 30 police, over 20 Security Staff and a large contingent of Acorn Arbs.
Unfortunately we had no garden permissions so the willing Gnomes had nowhere to stand to protect the tree.
Outside the barriers gathered several journalists and a noisy crowd of over 40 tree protectors.
Inspired by yesterday’s musical “Toot Your Horn”, most had some kind of noise making instrument with them. There were bells, clappers, kazoos, slide whistles, tambourines, recorders and noisemakers that have yet to be given a name.
The inaugural performance of the Chatsworth Tree Voice Choir was accompanied by the tooting instruments, very few in tune, but all effectively loud.
Despite the singing and the noise it was a heartbreaking occasion. Duchess has been fiercely defended through dawn, dusk, snow, sunshine and rain by devoted Tree Defenders in the area.
SCC is guilty of Eco Crime by taking this beautiful tree down.
Once the awful felling had finished further protest delayed the removal of the Duchess’s felled and cut up carcass.
This resulted in two arrests:
The first was a middle aged lady with a broken arm and a pink glittery recorder who was arrested for obstructing the grabber truck from entering the work zone to clear away the wood. We understand she is still in custody as she does not wish to give the police her details.
The second was a female ordained reverend minister who was arrested for assaulting a police officer with a tambourine. She was arrested with cuffs, the tambourine was not arrested.
She was later released without charge from Snig Hill Custody Suite.
A Road block protest at the very end of the day had 18 police lined up across the road in front of the trucks while they were addressed by one very determined protestor. She strongly encouraged them to examine what they were doing and “Contact your Federation privately” if they are uncomfortable with anything they are being asked to do during these tree protests.
Sally spoke very movingly – please listen. https://www.facebook.com/groups/392913244219104/permalink/925619154281841/
Sally and Ann also sang and broke our hearts; the tree love shines through for the Duchess on Chatsworth.
I’ll leave you with this comment from Rich posted in Facebook:
Seared in the mind’s eye
Macabre swirling sawdust
Of pale chainsaw tears
There were other tears too today. Goodbye Duchess.
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL
THIS WAS ECO CRIME
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY
Tagged with: #25YEP, #airpollution, #chainsawmassacre, #injunction, #saveshefftrees #Trees3, #Sheffield, #sheffieldissuper, #SheffieldTreeMassacre
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Watch “The city at war over its trees – BBC News” on YouTube
Tagged with: #25YEP, #airpollution, #AirQuality, #chainsawmassacre, #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper, #SheffieldTreeMassacre
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
#saveshefftrees Round up – March 21st 2018 – aggressive trumpet blowing is blown out of proportion
And… they were back on Rivelin Valley Road this morning.
40 people in HiViz counted early on….Police, Acorn, Amey Barrier men and Servoca Security Staff.
Let’s just pause there for a moment to think a bit about the Lime trees all along Rivelin Valley Road.
Way back in 1906 over 700 Lime Trees were purchased from Dixon’s of Chester at a cost of £147.
The Limes were planted to line the road for a distance of 3.5 miles, making it the second longest Lime Tree Avenue in Britain, and it still is today.
These trees are a Sheffield community asset. One 112 year old Lime tree has a CAVAT (monetary amenity asset value) of about £30,000 pounds. Almost 600 out of the original 700 trees are still in place and healthy.
The total the CAVAT value of the Avenue, at a conservative estimate, is:
£30,000 X 600 = £18,000,000
18 Million Pounds…..hold that thought.
So.. back to this morning at Rivelin Valley Road….
40 people in HiViz arrived to facilitate the felling of targeted trees in the Avenue.
They were rapidly joined by many local residents and some Tree Protectors from other parts of Sheffield.
7 or 8 geckos got behind the targeted tree and prevented the completion of a barrier zone.
This held up any planned felling for a long time.
Three warnings were issued then security staff used considerable force to remove the Geckos.
During the forcible Gecko removal a female protester (age 61) was dragged to the ground by security staff.
She was then kicked in the head by one of them as he stepped over her (there was plenty of room to walk around her).
She was taken to A&E by ambulance and was found to be suffering from a severe headache caused by a big bump on her head. She also had a badly bruised hip from where she hit the floor when she was dropped.
Police filmed the entire incident but refused to take a complaint from the victim at the scene. They said she would have to go to a police station to make her complaint.
The difference; compared to immediate arrest if the security personnel complain; is astonishing.
Following this:
– Another protestor got back into Gecko position and was eventually arrested and taken away by police.
– A local resident was arrested for swearing and taken away by police
– A lady, who had been enthusiastically blowing a Zuzuzuala most of the time, was arrested for, well, blowing her Zuzuzuala. When the Zuzuzuala was taken away from her she set off her rape alarm. The rape alarm was also taken away from her and she was taken away by police.
Surrounded by Heras barriers, security and police the Acorn Arbs felled the remains of one, already partly felled, healthy Lime tree.
Tree Protectors stood by other trees they thought might be targeted which seemed to deterred any further felling.
All the HiViz left shortly after one thirty.
So by lunchtime; one lady had been injured and was in hospital; three people had been arrested and were awaiting processing in the quaintly named Snig Hill Custody Suite; one healthy Lime tree had been felled.
That makes it 30.000 pounds off the value of the 18 million pound Rivelin Valley Road Lime Tree Avenue.
And how much spent on police, security and support services?
What a terrible waste.
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL.
TIME TO STOP AND TALK
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY
Tagged with: #25YEP, #airpollution, #AirQuality, #chainsawmassacre, #saveshefftrees, #Sheffield, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
#saveshefftrees Round Up – Tuesday March 20th 2018 – Rivelin Valley Rd Butchered
Today Rivelin Valley Road, the second longest Lime avenue in England, lost TWO of its majestic, healthy, over 100 year-old Lime trees. This avenue is situated in Paul Blomfield’s constituency who, only a week ago, said as part of a long statement:
“I would also like to see a pause in the work for more discussion to resolve the current conflict, putting the views of residents on affected streets first.”
Well Paul, it looks like that would be a “no” from SCC and AMEY.
Rivelin Valley Road was invaded mid morning with the now customary complement of large numbers of Police, Servoca Security employees, Amey barrier people and employees of Acorn Environmental Management Group – who actually cut the trees down.
By the end of the day this invasion resulted in two trees being felled and two people, who came to protest peacefully, being arrested.
Just to give you the feel of today here is a selection of comments posted on FB and various chats:
“SIA. Heras.Police on RVR”
“felling?”
“think they’re going for three trees”
“I’m at work…NO! NO! NO!”
“Have alerted Local Councillors”
“Live feed from Rivelin Valley Road shows Jeremy Willis really not looking pleased. He must have missed the memo about today being ‘International Day of Happiness’. “
On a Banner..“HONK FOR TREES”
“HONK!!!!!” From the many motorists who drove past showing their support
“South Yorkshire Police
PROTECTING the Fence
PROTECTING the Bouncers
PROTECTING the Contractors FROM
Peaceful People who just want to… PROTECT Healthy Trees”
“100 years to grow, and destroyed in 1 hour”
“Shameful butchery”
“Damn – they are ruining one of Britain’s best beauty spots.”
“A sad, difficult day.”
“15:45 All finished at Rivelin Valley Rd, Thanks everyone who came”
I think that means thanks to the Tree Protectors….
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY
Tagged with: #25YEP, #airpollution, #AirQuality, #chainsawmassacre, #NationalTreeWeek, #saveshefftrees, #Sheffield, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Sheffield left off Best Places to Live list over city’s bitter tree-felling dispute
Sheffield’s bitter row over tree-felling has seen it left out of a prestigious list of the country’s most desirable places to live.
The city, where protests have been held over the loss of trees, has this year not been included in the The Sunday Times Best Places to Live list
Sheffield Council and its contractor Amey have faced calls to cease tree felling after heated scenes and arrests.
The Sunday Times, which publishes the list, said: “No room for Sheffield this year, thanks to the bitter battle over council-backed plans for mass tree-felling
Tagged with: #25YEP, #AirQuality, #chainsawmassacre, #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Something’s amiss when Jarvis and Gove are on the same side | Rebecca Nicholson | Opinion | The Guardian
I can’t imagine that Michael Gove and Jarvis Cocker often share the same point of view, but both are opposed to Sheffield council’s policy of felling up to 25,000 trees deemed “dangerous” and replacing them with saplings.
Gove has called for the “destruction” to stop, while Cocker hosted a fundraiser with Richard Hawleyfor the Sheffield Tree Action group, and called the fellings “crazy”. The saga is as gripping as any new binge-watching must-see on Netflix; in fact, if the streaming service is looking to branch out – sorry – into new British drama, then this story of private finance initiative contracts gone wild and local heroes protesting the loss of their streets’ trees should provide plenty of inspirational material
The details of the dispute are depressing, a labyrinthine and frustrating portrait of marketisation that flies in the face of what residents actually want their city to look like. Dr Simon Crump, a senior lecturer in creative writing at Huddersfield, said this week that he was willing to go to prison for the cause. “I’m prepared to put my head above the parapet and stand up to bullies. For me, it’s about the right to peaceful and effective protest. If they can do this to us over some trees, they can do this to us for anything,” he said, a true Swampy for the modern age.
When Gove, Cocker, two Sheffield MPs and South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, are among the many voices requesting some common sense and decency; when police resources are being stretched because up to 30 police officers are turning up to fellings with as many as 90 protesters; when the council has hired private security to enforce injunctions against protesters; and when it’s all, essentially, down to money, then it seems like it’s time to, well, stop and try to see the wood for the (old and loved) trees.
Tagged with: #25YEP, #airpollution, #AirQuality, #chainsawmassacre, #saveshefftrees #Trees3, #sheffieldissuper, #SheffieldTreeMassacre
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
#saveshefftrees update Friday 16th March
Daily News Round-up – March 16th 2018
What a day of waiting, highs, lows, Samba, Jarvis Cocker, BBC Radio Four, BBC Radio Two and, sadly, the loss of a Healthy Lime Tree.
Quote of the Day: Jarvis Cocker on Radio 4 early this morning,
“…There are the 6 D’s for the Sheffield Trees now there’s a 7th … DAFT”
7:00 Olive Grove lots of checks done on vehicles
Then yawn for over three hours while we all held our breath…metaphorically…until,
10:15 All in Bramall Lane Petrol Station taking it in turns to go into Subway (new Police Canteen?)
There were:
8 Police riot vans,
2 normal Police cars,
2 Enterprise Rental vans with police inside them,
3 unmarked cars
1 Amey car
Servoca Private Security (the yellow jackets ) joined them.
Too much DayGlo HiViz…hope the Petrol Station had sunglasses on special offer this morning.
10:25 Convoy spotted at Brook Hill Roundabout
10:39 Heras Barriers go up round tree at 58 Sackville Road, Crookes
Despite the Independent Tree Panel recommending this healthy tree should be saved by simply putting in a half kerb, SCC went ahead and approved felling.
Does the 17,500 contractual obligation have anything to do with this?
Also interesting that a person at Sackville Road reports that the road and pavement have already been “upgraded”
11:16 Gennel allowing Public access to Sackville Road completely blocked by Heras Barriers and Servoca Yellow Jackets. We have the pictures.
11:35 Sheffield University Samba Band arrives, Rhythm, dancing, grinning and high spirits break out and beat back the sound of the chainsaws. Thank you Samba Band!
12.00 BBC Radio Two Jeremy Vine discusses Sheffield’s Street Trees. Do listen on playback.
Paul Brooke spoke brilliantly, despite the connection being lost once.
Brian Lodge also spoke.
JV said they had about a trees’ worth of texts, tweets and comments about our trees.
We could hear the samba band in the back ground, and the chainsaws, as a reporter on Sackville Road described the scene as #58 was destroyed.
13:25 Goodbye healthy Lime at #58 Sackville Road, Crookes, now just a stump and a pile of logs.
The other targeted tree on Sackville Road has a bird’s nest in it and so cannot be touched.
Good timing birds, have fun looking after those eggs.
14:08 Peaceful Tree Protectors do the Sheffield Shuffle s-l-o-w-l-y up the road for 10 minutes, allowed by the police.
22:00 Those lucky enough to get tickets, see you at the Sheffield City Hall Tree Gig.
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL
WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY….and possibly not sleeping tonight…
Tagged with: #AirQuality, #saveshefftrees, #sheffieldissuper, #SheffieldTreeMassacre
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Sheffield trees: Jarvis Cocker brands felling ‘crazy’ – BBC News
Musician Jarvis Cocker has described the felling of thousands of trees in his home city of Sheffield as “crazy”.
The former Pulp frontman is joining singer-songwriter Richard Hawley to DJ at an event raising funds for the Sheffield Tree Action Group.
The group is opposing Sheffield City Council’s plan to fell “dangerous” trees and replace them with new ones.
“They’re trying to get rid of about half the trees on the streets, which is kind of crazy,” Cocker said.
“You can’t really replace trees can you? I mean you’re replacing them with a little sapling that is going to take at least 40 years to reach maturity.
“We’ve all seen that thing where the pavement is all buckling, but I don’t think that is happening in half the cases of the street trees in Sheffield.
“I think that is what people are protesting about. It’s the scale of which this is going on.”
About 5,500 trees have been felled in Sheffield since 2012, with the city council saying the tree removal is part of its £2bn Streets Ahead project, aimed at improving roads and footpaths in the city.
The council, which is planting new trees after removing existing ones, insists the trees earmarked for felling are either “dangerous, dead, diseased, dying, damaging or discriminatory”.
However, many of the trees classed by the council as “damaging” or “discriminatory” are healthy specimens which campaigners say should be saved. They say that alterations should be made to surrounding pavements and roads instead.
The event “Get Off Our Tree!” is being held on Friday at Sheffield City Hall. Also playing are local artists The Everly Pregnant Brothers, lead singer of Reverend and the Makers, Nick McClure, and former Pulp drummer Nick Banks.
Cocker – who released a song called The Trees with Pulp in 2001 – said: “People are up in arms about it.
“Sheffield, I think it still has got memories of being an industrial city, trees are important, trees do produce the air that keeps us alive.”
He refused to be drawn when questioned on the BBC Today programme about whether he would become directly involved in protests.
He said he was taking part “to raise awareness and also to help people who are being punished for it” by raising money to help cover court costs of those prosecuted.
The council said it supported peaceful protest but “unlawful behaviour displayed by some” protesters had been in “blatant breach of a High Court injunction and cannot be tolerated”.
A spokesman added: “Two individuals have already been given suspended prison sentences for breaching the injunction, along with costs totalling £27,000 owed to the council, and so we hope that any money raised through fundraising events in support of the campaign will go towards the money which is rightfully owed to the taxpayers of Sheffield.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-43429405?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Tagged with: #25YEP, #airpollution, #AirQuality, #chainsawmassacre, #saveshefftrees, #Sheffield, #sheffieldissuper, #SheffieldStreetTrees, #SheffieldTreeMassacre
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Posted in Blog, Healthy Felling, News
Innocent protest to save Sheffield’s healthy street trees turns into a nightmare, as a small group of brave suburbanites take on their Council, the police and a multinational corporation.
We are currently collecting to support the small number of campaigners who are facing court costs after cases brought by Sheffield City Council.
Walk the Heartwood Trail and find Robert Macfarlane’s beautiful charms against harm hung from some of Sheffield’s threatened Street Trees. Designed by Jackie Morris.
STAG - Sheffield Tree Action Groups 