Why do we not have a similar attitude?

I'm sorry that Jim Lewis finds it necessary to bring politics into the important matter of Sheffield's built heritage and blames that old chestnut '“ the Tory cuts, (Star, April 6).
Heeley National School, SheffieldHeeley National School, Sheffield
Heeley National School, Sheffield

Our Society, Hallamshire Historic Buildings, has raised the matter of the 1801 Heeley National School on more than one occasion.

This important piece of history could and should be saved; powers do exist to enable this to happen.

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Not so long ago, after a long and hard fight to save it, a nationally important Grade II* listed building on Shude Hill was demolished thanks to a nod from the council.

Sheffield’s earliest row of shops dating back to the 1830s on Devonshire Green is about to be demolished and could and should be saved.

The rot and decay blighting Sheffield’s Old Town Hall could and should have been prevented.

There is a local joke which says that Sheffield City Council has carried on with the work left by the Luftwaffe.

Unfortunately it’s not a joke any more.

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The list of lost metal trades buildings is too long to relate but to mention just two – the historic Trafalgar Works and Kangaroo Works, which were needlessly demolished as a pre-empt to the ill-fated and now defunct Sevenstone Retail Quarter scheme.

Now ‘Sevenstone Mk II’ will see great swathes of Pinstone Street and Cambridge Street swept away, when so much of it could be retained.

The new scheme is not as sympathetic as we have been led to believe.

The last time I looked, this council wasn’t being run by the big bad Tories, so please don’t demean matters Mr Lewis by allotting blame to where it doesn’t lay.

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Our society does not have a political stance but is fully aware of who the culprits are in the decimation of our built heritage over the last few decades.

Successful shopping destinations such as Manchester and Leeds cherish and preserve their past which may account for some of their success.

Why do we not have similar attitudes to our city’s history?

Howard Greaves

Chairman Hallamshire Historic Buildings