Council to pay contractor £2,000 every time it pla

A council is tied into a contract where it will have to pay out an 'astonishing' £2,000 every time a highways contractor plants a sapling on a roadside.

Taxpayers will foot the bill for the sky-high sum every time private company Amey digs a hole and plants the trees on pavements, verges or central reservations in Birmingham.

The extravagant cost to the public purse has been criticised for coming at a time when public services are being squeezed across the country with cuts being made to vital services.

'Astonishing' cost' : Council highways contractor Amey is charging £2,000 for each sapling planted on roadsides in Birmingham

Contracted company : Amey has a £2.7billion contract to upgrade and maintain Birmingham's highway network until 2035

Robert Oxley, Campaign Manager, of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'This is an astonishing amount to pay just for planting roadside trees. 

'Given the bill, residents could be forgiven for thinking their street should look like the Champs-Elysées after contractors have visited their road.

'Contracting out services has to represent value for taxpayers' money, so poorly negotiated contracts should be axed to ensure that taxpayers' cash is being spent wisely.' 

The saplings can be bought direct for as little as £20 from garden centres - a tenth of the cost being charged by highways contractor Amey.

The costly charge has been blasted as 'reprehensible' by councillors at Birmingham City Council, which is facing £100million of cuts.

Chairwoman of the council's transport and sustainability committee Victoria Quinn was stunned by the Amey tree fees.

The Labour councillor said: 'I have to say I find this charge ridiculous. It is reprehensible that, in 2013 during a time of austerity, we are being asked to pay this much for a natural resource.'

Her colleague Phil Davis added that a local tree planting scheme would blow an entire community budget - leaving no money for anything else.

But Amey, which has the £2.7billion contract to upgrade and maintain Birmingham's highway network until 2035, said that the cost was justified.

Contract manager Eddie Fellows said: 'It cannot be compared to placing a tree in a park. The highway is a hostile environment for a tree.

'Particular species need to be selected, then there are ground works and the impact on utilities to be considered.

'The work is carried out on an active highway, then there are accidents and vandalism.'

Mr fellows added that the trees are maintained until 2035.

The issue came up as councillors discussed the draft Green Living Spaces Plan, which promotes tree planting and looks to protect parks and open spaces, not only to reduce pollution and carbon emissions, but also to promote healthy lifestyles for citizens.

The council has a total of more than 70,000 trees lining the roads and many hundreds of thousands in parks, open spaces and gardens - all of which make a contribution to the environment, the committee heard.

Feeling the crunch : Birmingham City Council is currently facing £100million of cuts from its budget

A Birmingham City Council spokesman: 'To date, no additional trees have been planted and so Birmingham City Council has not been charged for planting and upkeep of saplings.

'Amey maintains and manages the city’s highways trees as part of its 25 year-long contract with Birmingham City Council.

'This includes looking after all 70,000 existing trees on the highways network.

'Occasionally, it may be necessary to remove a tree, which is then replaced under the terms of the 25 year-long contract at no additional cost.

'If an additional tree was requested there would be an additional cost as this tree would not have fallen within the remit of the original contract.
  

'However, to date no additional trees have been planted and so no additional costs have been incurred.' Gggrrrrrrr!! - Fx