The Sheffield City Council recently revealed it intends to reduce the number of trees being cut down. The ongoing tree cutting has been part of a controversial program.

According to the council, it will provide a new proposal that would see PFI contractor Armey spending an increased amount of money to protect the trees.  The proposal came as a result of the mediation that allowed all involved to discuss the issue and determine how to proceed.

In the coming weeks, the plans developed in mediation will be assessed by the Sheffield Tree Action Group (STAG), the group fighting to prevent the trees from being cut down. The group was able to compromise with the council after the discussions held during mediation.

According to Councilor Lewis Dagnall, who is Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Streetscene, “We’ve put forward a proposal on behalf of Amey and the City Council which would see fewer trees replaced over a phased period. We are now going to go into a period of a few weeks to give STAG the chance to further scrutinize the proposals that we’ve put forward before we then have a wider conversation with the public about the next steps.”

Though there is no guarantee, Dagnall is hoping that the plans will reduce the number of trees being cut down.

The City Council had previously signed a multi-billion dollar contract with Amey to improve Sheffield’s highway system over the course of a quarter century. The plan included the cutting down of more than 17,000 trees. Since the plan launched five years ago, there have been ongoing disputes and protest efforts.