Filmmakers reveal human cost of Sheffield trees dispute in new documentary

Co-directors Jacqui Bellamy and Eve Wood have created a new film called The Felling, which features the stories of protesters and includes dramatic footage from the years-long dispute over the mass removal of street trees as part of a £2bn highways contract.

Bellamy spent months filming footage at the height of the dispute, as growing protests saw dozens of police officers and private security guards deployed to support the council's felling operations involving its contractor Amey. The film also features mobile phone footage gathered by the protesters.

Protesters argued that many of the healthy trees were being felled unnecessarily and after work was finally put on hold in spring 2018, the council has subsequently introduced a new approach to designed to reduce fellings to a minimum.

An inquiry into what went wrong with the council's policy is due to start later this year but in October 2020, a report by the Local Government Ombudsman ruled the local authority had misled the public, misrepresented expert advice and acted with a "lack of honesty" during the saga.

Bellamy first got involved in documenting the protests after the council sent contractors out before dawn to fell eight trees on Rustlings Road in November 2016 accompanied by police officers in one of the most contentious moments of the dispute. The fellings took place despite specialists and the council’s own Independent Tree Panel recommending only one of the trees needed removing.

She initially took photos but when two women - Jenny Hockey, a 70-year-old retired university professor, and Freda Brayshaw, a 72-year-old retired teacher - who had been arrested at Rustlings Road had charges against them dropped in January 2017 at Sheffield Magistrates' Court she began filming.

"When Jenny and Freda came out of court, I was taking pictures and I thought actually I need to be filming this," she explained.

"So I just switched the camera on and started filming. And from then on, it just became a compulsive thing. I had to do it. I just had to document what was happening because it was so unique to Sheffield. And so I don't know, it was a gut feeling. I knew that I had to do it.

"As things went on and on and on, I absolutely couldn't stop."

Bellamy says she was interested in exploring the motivations of people putting their liberty on their line to save trees.

"One of the key things is how far are you prepared to go for something you believe in, something you feel strongly about?"

She said that while she was an independent observer of the process, as time went on he became more sympathetic to the protesters' cause and increasingly alarmed at their treatment.

Wood came in to work as the editor and co-director and encouraged Bellamy to keep parts in involving herself.

"Sometimes there would be something happening at the end of the street and you would see Jacqui running and huffing and puffing and I would say, you need to keep that in because it is your journey.

"She was very hesitant about having herself in. But this is such a large subject you want to engage with somebody as a viewer. It is through the eyes of Jacqui and towards the end she was angry. She was saying, 'who the hell is paying for this?'

"She actually starts speaking up herself and it is really powerful."

Wood says when she started working on the footage, she became increasingly shocked at what had happened and how the dispute developed.

Bellamy says the editing process had been a reminder of how draining it had been to cover the protests on a daily basis.

"It was pretty relentless. When people were being ragged about and screaming and having fingers pulled off railings, you are looking through the camera and filming it and thinking to some extent about the technical aspects of what you are doing. You are almost psychologically prepared for it at the time.

"The worst thing is when you come to look back through the footage and you realise how serious it was."

Wood says that her and her husband ended up spending 14 months working on creating the finished film alongside Bellamy.

"The story is just completely outrageous and it is very unique footage of something being played out on the street - the intimidation of normal, law-abiding citizens by a corporation and the state."

The filmmakers said that while they had repeatedly sought interviews with the likes of Amey and Sheffield Council officials and the former council leader Julie Dore, their requests were refused.

But they said while editing the footage and interviews with the protesters, they came to realise they were telling the story of the protesters.

Wood says: "The way we've edited it in the end is to get away from the journalistic approach and tell it as a human story.

"It's the effect that this kind of behaviour, which is seemingly allowed because they're getting away with it, has on people and the human impact.

"Day after day they were risking getting imprisoned, financial risk, risk to their homes, and believing they were doing the right thing because it was their trees in their street.

"Hopefully the authorities will watch this and think, 'hang on a second, maybe we shouldn't behave like this'."

The film is to get its premiere at Sheffield City Hall next month and there are hopes of wider cinema run after that.

Bellamy says: "I would love to inspire younger generations to start standing up for themselves because I think what happened in Sheffield is a microcosm of what's going on at a bigger scale with the government. In light of the policing protest bill at the moment, it is imperative people stand up for their right to protest."

Tickets to the premiere on March 20 are available from £15. Book from the Sheffield City Hall website.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.