Trees scandal: Sheffield City Council publishes extraordinary four-page apology 'to all residents and beyond'

The authority acknowledges it has been a long time coming and some people will ‘never forgive’. But it hopes it will begin the process of ‘restoring trust and faith’. The 2,000-word document then specifically apologises to campaigners for misrepresenting them and ‘sowing discord in communities.’

Signed by council leader Tom Hunt and chief executive Kate Josephs, it follows the damning Sheffield Street Trees Inquiry Report by Sir Mark Lowcock in March. It found the council had misled the courts and public over a plan to cut down half of the city's 35,000 street trees as part of a highways improvement contract. It led to council leader Terry Fox and Coun Bryan Lodge being forced from office.

Today's unprecedented apology includes sections such as ‘Missed opportunities and inadequate risk assessment’, ‘Sustained failure of strategic leadership’, ‘A culture unreceptive to external views’, ‘Discouraging of internal dissent and prone to group-think’, ‘A lack of transparency, openness and on occasion, honesty’.

At one point it states: ‘The errors that the council made led to harm. Our own staff, contractors and subcontractors were placed in unacceptable positions and subject to harassment. Protesters and campaigners were maligned, injured and experienced physical, emotional, and for some, financial stress. The action the council took damaged Sheffield’s reputation in a way that casts a long shadow’.

It ends: ‘We understand that apologies without actions are meaningless. We have set-out actions in a formal report to Strategy and Resources Committee which will address all the Inquiry’s recommendations. While we know that the decisions Sheffield City Council take will continue to require challenging trade-offs, this should ensure that lessons are learnt and that a dispute of this magnitude with our residents can never happen again.

‘We look forward to working with the residents of Sheffield going forwards, so we can continue our work to be the best we can be. We will listen and learn, we will try and maybe we will fail sometimes. Failing and making mistakes is a part of life, but refusing to listen and learn is a mistake we can never repeat’.