A campaigner who battled Sheffield City Council for many years believes the city’s treescape has a brighter future after revealing 358 have been planted by an organisation he chairs.
Paul Selby is the chairperson for the Nether Edge and Sharrow Sustainable Transformation group (NESST), which has worked with local residents and community groups to raise more than £240,000 through legacy funds and grants.
NESST identified the Highfield and Lowfield areas for 91 of these because of their lack of trees and they are economically deprived.
Describing the success of the Crowdfunder, Mr Selby said: “In effect we only raised £8,000 but with match funding it went to £23,000. So basically members can see it’s a hugely beneficial scheme and that’s why they donated.”
When outlining his future plans for Sheffield’s trees, Mr Selby said he wants to plant more of them, as well as a Buckthorn butterfly scheme and innovative wildlife meadows.
In February, Mr Selby resigned from the Sheffield Street Tree partnership which is a group which was formed after a long-running campaign to prevent the city’s trees from being felled by the council.
He believed the group needed an “injection of pace” and “weren’t fulfilling their goals”, emphasising the necessity to continue campaigning and conserving despite recent success.
