#letsheffieldbreathe

Blog post

Plane tree felling: the hidden risk to health

August 2017

air pollution, #letsheffieldbreathe, Let Sheffield Breathe, Save Sheffield Trees

We already know that cutting down healthy trees makes air pollution worse. But that’s not just because they absorb pollutants. Yesterday I learnt that plane trees have spiky “hairs” (called trichomes) on their leaves which can exacerbate the symptoms of lung conditions, especially when disturbed by pruning or felling.

Blog post

Plea for clean air action, April 2017

April 2017

air pollution, Sheffield, Let Sheffield Breathe, #letsheffieldbreathe, Eamonn Ward, Mazher Iqbal

Today’s Sheffield City Council meeting was pretty dramatic: Green councillor Alison Teal was asked to leave for her “defamatory” remarks about Cllr Bryan Lodge, and then the Lib Dems left in protest at Cllr Teal’s exclusion. The context for this drama, as so often in Sheffield’s council chambers, was a debate about the council’s unnecessary felling of street trees.