Ideas from Valerie are exhilarating

As the one who was for many years and probably still is the independent and individual voice in the wilderness regarding the remains of Sheffield Castle I’ll claim a stake in the ‘greater Castlegate’ debate.

Give the area a greater public definition in extent – include the Sheffield Blitz – you have a ready-made and eloquent public memorial in the upper storey of Col Sanders’ emporium if we had the vision to realise it.

The idea that the retail structures from Exchange Street to the former savings bank have any long- term potential is ridiculous.

The key to revitalising Castlegate as a whole is in enlisting the support of an extremely diverse local community, the potential of which has been barely scratched – how you provide the logistics for that is another matter.

The wider community will be enlisted by the sight of scaffolding on the Old Town Hall and the sound of drills breaking concrete and sight of archaeological trial trenches on the Markets site.

Ron Clayton