Mr. Johnson

To be fair, Cosy Club would suit that unit better than P&P. Was rather dark and quiet at lunchtimes whereas CC's are designed to be appealing as much at lunchtime as they are for the evening trade. Should do well there.

I'm all for increasing the number of people living in the city centre. It's needed to provide vibrancy and jobs but the architecture of most modern buildings (not just Sheffield) is bereft of any beauty. All UK cities are getting identikit slabs of grey and brown puncturing their skylines. The big glass building at West Bar is an exception to the rule. There's just no joy, no unique qualities or indeed soul in most of the buildings being constructed lately. I know it's all about cost but I'd like to see all councils require that developers propose and then stick to more aesthetically pleasing and unique designs.

This. I love everything they're doing in the city centre but this seems like a bad move. My gut feeling is that nothing will happen, timelines will be extended then eventually the project will just fizzle out and it'll be a big grey silent brick sat in the middle of the city for at last another decade yet unless someone else takes it over or the building just falls down.

Correct. The population of the country (and our city) increases yet the number of people paying in to sustain the services remains static. It's unsustainable yet never gets dared to be acknowledged.

DSA was / is perfectly viable to run as a major and profitable airport. They had enquiries from some of the larger airlines interested in operating there just before it was closed down. It's simply down to Peel who own the place wanting to finally realise their long term vision when acquiring the airport - to use the land for warehousing. They were never going to get the land in the first place if they stated such intentions. Once they were in and over time, they made it harder and harder for established operators to make money by constantly increasing the fees to on be one of if not the most expensive in the UK which in turn put off any other interested airlines wanting to come in. Eventually, Wizz told them to go forth and multiply and that set the chain reaction going for Peel to declare it unprofitable and they could then get their warehouse land all with the nice new roads ready made for them. Don't be fooled by anyone saying it will be unprofitable or unpopular. If a company comes in that wants to actually make it work as an airport, it will absolutely fly.

Just hope it actually ends up looking like it does in the proposals and doesn't end up half the size and clad in brown or grey.

God forbid we should entice people off benefits and into work by offering decent wages and working environments. Quick Google shows KFC made £129 M profit in 2018 with a typical franchise owner taking home £50-£80 k per annum. Hardly chicken feed. Pay people decent wages, train them and staff the outlets properly and the owners will make even more money in the long run as customers will be served quicker, quality goes up and people return in greater numbers more frequently. It's not the laziness of the unemployed that's the problem, it's the greed and lack of foresight from KFC and the rest.

I'm hoping they build a roller coaster on the site.

Yeah, we get it now, @trastrick. You're a cultured, sophisticat world traveller up there with Alan Whicker, Michael Palin and Uncle Travelling Matt from the Fraggles. While we are all just grunting neanderthals who never raise our gaze from the ground and should bow down to and recognize your great hate for both our city in general and specifically it's third world use of those troublesome obstacles that have been the bane of mankind for millennia - steps. Or you could just be a petty jealous troll from some neighbouring town. The lady doth protest too much, methinks to be labouring a point on a niche forum for a city they hate when they should be busy planning their next trip to wherever it is that has 'El Centro' signs to direct them when they're driving to their beloved hotels and not at all those places that have loads of signs with 'Heart of the City' written on them in nice friendly letters in plain English instead.

Which hotel was it? You are allowed to name it. I want to attempt this parking / drop off impossibility myself.

On what planet would people living in city centres be a bad thing for erm.. cities? It's what makes them grow, evolve and will eventually keep our centre trading past 5pm through economic demand and give it a real vibrancy at that time of day that just isn't quite there. Yet. Bring on that massive skyscraper with plenty more to follow for me.

May well be but then you're just taking somebody's word for it. If they're not doing the paperwork it's poor/ negligent management. Would a sane person risk their own health, their kids, pregnant women eat at a place where the staff told them 'yeah, we did it - we just CBA / forgot to do it? Not exactly filling anyone wth confidence.

The paperwork documents that checks are being made on the safe handling of food from delivery through to storage, preparation and ultimately service. If things aren't being held at safe temperatures, a single bacteria can multiply into billions within 24 hrs. And that's just one aspect. Can a place demonstrate that all their staff know how to handle food safely and have been trained to a level that gives confidence that they don't pose a risk to the public? There are plenty of news examples on the internet, videos on YouTube of people (usually the very young or elderly) suffering permanent brain damage and plenty others who died due to poor food safety management. I can pretty much guarantee that if someone in Sheffield was to die because someone at a restaurant CBA to do a few checks and thought 'it'll be reyt', everyone would be screaming blue murder despite how clean the place appeared to be.

Population of the city will only grow over time. Barring any major wars or extinction level event of course. Invest now in an underground system that connects all. Actually, why not have cable cars? Good ones. We've got loads of hills that they can be used to navigate and link up. It would also be rather unique and a bit of a tourist attraction. Which would pay for the system and bring in extra money. Plus, they'd be fun. Sorted.

What would I like to see? I'd like to see Sheffield think not one but two steps ahead. People can carry on the comparisons to Leeds and Manchester (who themselves want to be Mini-Londons) but it's pointless playing catch-up in that race. We've lost. Expending energy to mimic those cities is a waste of energy. No, we need to look forward and build on the resources and talent we already have. Traditional retail is dying and what remains will carry on at Meadowhall. So I say accept that, develop the east end for traditional and warehouse retailing with Meadowhall anchoring that and attracting visitors from all over the region. As for the centre, people still want to be social and get out. This is where we look at the resources on our doorstep. Sheffield has real talent in the art and independent scene. I feel it a lot more here than in those other two cities. So, make the city centre a hub for indy bars, restaurants, cafés, shops and our incredible music scene. Celebrate our indigenous talent and make it affordable for them to trade there and showcase their talents. Continue to develop green spaces like we have been doing. It's an old town/new town idea, which we kind of are already. We just don't want to accept it. But we should. East end & Meadowhall as the 'New Town' for whatever future retail will be and the city centre as the 'Old Town' for social and leisure. As I said at the start, this isn't just a one step ahead but two. Instead of playing catch-up with Leeds and Manchester let's not play their game and start planning for what happens when traditional retail really does die off. We can be pioneers here and get ahead of the game when the time comes where Leeds and Manchester are fighting over the last bones. Instead, we will have planned well in advance and used our own people and talent to do it. A pipe dream? Maybe. Probably. But the OP did ask!