Conclusions

The chapters discusses the urban politics through the medium of street trees, and street trees through the medium of politics, exposing not only contemporary issues but also our relationship with each other and our environment, and with nature itself. Jenny Hockey’s poem hones in on much of what was distressing, surreal and enlightening about the Sheffield street tree crisis; pointing to the infants indoors that will live just long enough at Christmas to be present for the slaughter of their grown-up elders on the street outside, and helping us recognise that we live in a time of mixed messages and strange symbols. The Sheffield tree saga provides plenty of scope for consideration of the role of the contemporary local news media in political debate. The distinctions might simply be between traditions of advocacy journalism and source-based news trends often forced on the local news media in an era of reduced financing from circulation and advertising.