Star readers share one thing that they'd change about Sheffield

We asked our readers if they could change one thing about Sheffield, what would that be? And, this is what they had to say.

Phil Yates said; “I would change the way the council manages its contracts. For example, the residents of Pingle Rd have been complaining about an area of pavement that has not been fixed even though AMEY removed a Cherry tree that was classed as damaging. This was 3 to 4 years ago at the height of the tree campaign.”

Nigel R Sheppard (like a few others) would like to change; “The Council. No more needs to be said.”

And, Jill Cooper kept it fairly succint (if cutting); “To be honest, if the local versions of the bigger parties don't take the trouble to engage with the poor half of S3 with their two faced guff and pie crust promises, well, keep counting the trendy Neepsend S3 student vote, they'll not be here to witness the Council cock ups so enjoy the gravy train while you can Councillors.”

Meanwhile, Lynda Kenyon added; “I would like it to be cleaner and more stringent penalties for littering and fly tipping.”

Much of the ire received was focused on the current council, as note by Nicola Quibell who would like to change the; “So called leaders, the state of our city compared to other cities is a joke. All offices and eateries. Its like they have never been to another city or seen the attractions that draw people in.”

The strong opinions on the council continued, with Stuart Burton particularly frustrated with the; “anti car, anti business council. I’m in favour of better cycling paths, but the council literally have no other policies. To get loads of office jobs in the centre like Leeds or Manchester we need mass transit options like a network of park and rides near tram and train stops, more local train services etc. Our council are clueless as we fall further behind every year.”

Rebecca Hammond on the otherhand said that; “Lots of people have said "the council", so I'll pick something else: the roads, and specifically the infrastructure for cyclists. I started cycling to work (about half the time) last year, and there are some bits of my commute that aren't awful. Getting through Broomhill is horrible, particularly when drivers park their cars on the double yellows outside the takeaways, forcing me and other drivers into the oncoming traffic.”

Steve Eyles was a little disappointed by John Lewis’ decision to leave Sheffield, saying; “It'll be a shame to see it go but I'm surprised it didn't re open with a sale to get rid of all their stock.” Paul Smallwood isn’t asking for much, just that we can; “Bring back the Green Un in the paper format” — hopefully one day, eh?

Mark Gooney is firmly of the belief that; “Thing's will never change, not when all the investment is kept down in london northern powerhouse, it makes you laugh never happen.” Jody Smith thinks an easy and effective change would be to; “Reduce parking costs.”

Some were yearning for days gone by, like Jan Woning who would like to; “Bring back all rock venues, clubs and pubs, which have vanished over the past 30 years.” Lucy Kent would like to; “Get rid of the stupid one way systems in city centre” and James Schofield is not a fan of “Smart motorways remove them from our motorway links” — and a few agreed with him there.

Olivia Smith just puts her opinion right out there, saying; “The miserable sods whingeing about everything. Cities are made by the people who live in them and use them. Geordies and Liverpudlians mostly love their cities, warts and all, and there’s a buzz about the places that comes from that” — nothing wrong with having a bit of pride in our city, it would be nice if more of us felt the same.

Finally, Christine Plews had her say on the topic; “Lots of people here saying change the council, couldn’t agree more. Sheffield used to be a lovely, great city, now it’s starting to feel like a dump and that’s down to bad decisions made by the council. We have a chance of changing this in May, but if everyone just votes for who they’ve always voted for, nothing will change, please think carefully when you vote” — well, there you have it.

We couldn’t include all of our readers thoughts here… but you can check them out here on Facebook.