What would you put on city’s own roadmap for the future? - Editor's comment

I am full of excitement and very determined that Sheffield will come out of these torrid times in good shape. It is going to be incredibly tough and there will be problems along the way which none of us can imagine at this stage. Yet things are starting to stack up in our favour and I feel sure that a new attitude will be the key player in making things better.

As a city we need to not only stand up as one to salute those who have kept us going, including the dedicated health workers on today’s front page.

We also need to look forward together, examine everything we have done in the past so we can learn from our mistakes while finally giving the country’s fourth biggest city the national standing it deserves. There are some very difficult questions which we can’t solve on our own. Transport has to be top of the pile and until everybody in the country is sick of hearing about the dire state of Sheffield’s infrastructure – both inside the city and the links leading out of it – then we simply aren’t doing enough. We need to be loud and we need to force solutions. There is no time like the present.

But there are some very simple ones where we just need to stop the excuses. Let’s open up the passageway under Moorfoot, let’s figure out an attractive way to link Ecclesall Road better with the heart of the city and, for goodness sake, let's sort out the old castle site. We could have built a new castle – full scale – and created the army to go with it in the time we have dithered and faffed around the edges with no conclusion in sight.

The Star team is working on a Sheffield roadmap to lead our city forward as we emerge from lockdown. We already have some of the big players on board with their opinions but we want to hear from everyone. A big salary doesn’t necessarily mean you have the best ideas and the voice of the people needs to be loud at this critical point.

Call me, email me, pop a letter in the post – just make sure you seize the chance to have your say and your Star team will do all we can to make those opinions heard.

Who knows, we might even be able to meet up and discuss it all soonish.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.