The new Sheffield Street Tree Strategy was created in 2020, and includes a new process that allows residents and community groups to fund the purchase additional street trees. In autumn 2020, Paul Selby (NESST Chairperson) walked each and every one of the 340 streets in the NESST geographic area, and identified 3680 potential additional locations for street trees, on these streets.
During 2021, 2022 and 2023, Paul worked with local residents and other community groups to raise over £183,000 through a variety of funding sources, to fund the planting of 256 street trees. Importantly, 86% of these are on roads without any street trees prior to 2021, and spread the street tree canopy cover outside of traditional “leafy Nether Edge.”
NESST are most proud of the 70 trees planted in the Highfield and Lowfield areas, which are the most economically deprived and canopy cover deprived parts of the NESST area. These 70 trees were funded via two large Grants we applied for. The first was the Aviva Wild Isles Fund; the second was the Forestry Commission Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
You can see the 256 additional street tree locations on the map below. The different coloured trees denote different funding sources.
All this means that, in just three years, the number of street trees in the NESST area has increased by 12%, the first increase in over 40 years, after years of inexorable decline.
But we want to plant even more street trees! Depending on specific circumstances we may even be able to subsidise half the cost of the new tree. (The full cost being around £700 per tree into tarmac and around £450 per tree into a grass verge).
If you are interested please contact NESST at info@nesstsheffield.org
You can also contribute through Localgiving online (and Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer)
