The first ever tree could be planted on an Arbourthorne street as a community fundraising campaign looks set to reach its £420 target.
The campaign was organised by Richard West through the Trees for Streets charity and aims to bring environmental and mental health benefits to residents on Hallyburton Road on the Arbourthorne estate.
Mr West said: “If you have more access to green spaces, you’re more likely to exercise and there’s an established link between exercise and mental health benefits.”
A study by Cardiff University on green space access and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic shows a clear link between a short walking distance to public greenery and self-rated health.
Trees also improve air quality by absorbing pollution from cars and industry as well as helping to keep streets cool by providing shade during the summer.
The campaign has been a year in the making and was inspired when Mr West was walking home from work in Broomhall and noticed the difference in temperature between the leafy suburb where works and his street.
He said: “It took me almost a year to notice that there weren’t any trees, it’s not actually something that unless you deliberately think it comes to mind.”
“Sheffield claims to be one of the greenest in Europe but actually I find it’s quite unequal, where I live there are no trees on my street or in the immediate area.”
If Mr West’s campaign is successful, a 5-10 year old tree will be planted on the street by Sheffield council contractors who have surveyed the area to ensure the tree will be safe and not obstruct pavements for residents.
The involvement of the council in the project has been contentious among people Mr West has discussed the campaign with due to persisting ill-feeling around issues such as the tree felling protests.
Mr West said supporting projects such as his could be a way to win residents’ trust back for the council and that their help could reduce the cost of trees by applying for central government funding.
He said: “No one wants to give money to the council so I’ve had this question when I’ve been speaking to the neighbours.
“They could subsidise trees for areas I’d argue probably need them more, an area like Arbourthorne could have a subsidised tree for example.
“I think they could be doing quite a lot in terms of building people’s trust, because obviously it takes time to do that.”
Mr West said he hoped if his campaign was successful it would snowball and inspire people in other wards who want more greenery in their area to do the same.
Just £15 from the fundraiser’s target at the time of writing he appealed to people to get the fundraiser over the line: “I think it’s a little vote for local politics. We can get lost in thinking about all the things in the world but this is something you can do.”
The deadline for donations is noon 11 December, the campaign donation page can be found here: Let’s get our first street tree in Hallyburton Road – Trees for Streets
