A Green Party councillor has vowed to continue protesting against Sheffield Council’s tree-felling programme, despite the council threatening her with legal action.
Alison Teal received a notice on June 27 [1], where the council warned it would seek a High Court injunction to stop her and others protesting. Teal has been ordered not to enter or park her car in certain areas of the city, otherwise the council will begin legal proceedings on July 12.
Teal and six others were arrested in February while taking part in a peaceful protest against the tree-felling but charges were later dropped [2].
Teal said:
“I will not be intimidated by a council intent on trying to steamroller its opposition into silence. I’ll keep protesting because this act of environmental vandalism is completely unconscionable and I know how valuable these trees are to the surrounding communities.
“Thousands of Sheffield residents have now spoken out in defence of the perfectly healthy trees under threat and their concerns have been completely ignored. Support for our work is growing rather than shrinking and not just from people who care about trees but people who care about democracy as well.
“If anything, the council’s heavy-handed approach has fuelled our anger - it’s completely unacceptable to be threatening residents with legal action, suspending opposition councillors and allowing dawn raids on pensioners all to continue destroying our green spaces. This is not what a healthy democracy looks like.”
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