The Felling: New documentary to show the frontline fight to save Sheffield's trees

A new documentary film about the successful campaign to stop Sheffield’s mass street tree felling programme is to get its premiere next month.
By Chris Burn
Published 12th Feb 2022, 11:45 BST
Updated 16th Feb 2022, 16:13 BST

The Felling is to be shown at Sheffield City Hall on March 20 at 2pm.

Filmmakers Jacqui Bellamy and Eve Wood spent two years gathering footage for the film, which tells the story of how local residents protested against the council’s plans to remove thousands of street trees in the city as part of a £2bn highways contract.

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Campaigners argued many of the tree fellings had involved healthy trees and had been unnecessary.

The increasingly-bitter dispute reached its height in early 2018 when dozens of police officers and private security guards accompanied daily felling operations in the wake of growing protests - resulting in multiple arrests.

The council has since changed course and adopted a strategy designed to save more trees after coming under pressure as the issue came to national and international attention.

A spokesperson for the film said: “The Felling is a David-and-Goliath story about how a small group of residents in one of Europe’s greenest cities battled to stop a powerful city council and a giant multinational corporation from chopping down thousands of healthy street trees as part of a massive £2.2 billion private contract to maintain the city’s highways.

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“What started as a local protest, soon attracted national and international support. As the stakes increased with threats of bankruptcy and imprisonment, ordinary citizens were forced to ask themselves the crucial question: How far am I prepared to go to save a tree?

A still from The Felling documentaryA still from The Felling documentary
A still from The Felling documentary

“Filmed over two years, this is an extraordinary and shocking first-hand account of what happened on the tree-lined suburban streets of Sheffield.”

Tickets to the premiere are available from £15. Book from www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.

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