Letter: Living in the city centre

Being Sheffield born we spent our lives travelling backwards and forwards on a daily basis. We needed two cars because the public transport in Derbyshire is poor, unreliable and far more expensive than South Yorkshire.

Having been through all of the planning documents for Sheffield City Council's Heart of the City regeneration strategy we thought it was an inspired and ambitious programme.

We decided to buy a three bed apartment in the Heart of the City. It is owner occupier and the apartments cannot be rented out.

Sheffield City Council's aim is to create a more stable resident population who are invested in their local community.

The apartments sold quickly and there is a mix of people from young, first time buyers who have got on the housing ladder with the governments help to buy scheme to retired people.

Our apartment block does not have any car parking, we have cycle parking spaces instead.

We got rid of one car and rent a space for the other in the Moor Market car park.

It gets used a few times a week. Ideally we would like to get rid of that too.

Maybe as the Car Club scheme is extended where you can rent a car by the hour from a nearby location, we will be able to do that like you can in London.

As city centre residents we do not see the desolation that others report. Twenty-five thousand people live within the inner city ring road and we all need shops and services.

This will be increased by another ten thousand during the coming years as SCC delivers the governments housing targets centrally rather than in the Green Belt where there was such opposition to it.

Admittedly many shops have gone, but that is down to market forces and not SCC.

It is the same all over Europe, not just in Sheffield.

Everything is on our doorstep. We shop locally and use public transport. We furnished our apartment from Atkinsons. It was a joy to deal with knowledgeable sales staff and the customer service was excellent.

The Moor Market is fantastic and we have a range of supermarkets within walking distance. It was easy registering with a local GP surgery a few minutes walk away.

The people who are constantly running down the city centre are part of the problem.

This is because they damage the businesses who are working hard to survive by contributing to the negative attitudes.

Moaning is not going to bring back Debenhams, Woolworths or British Home Stores.

I think what people like about Sheffield is best summed up by our new neighbours from Bath.

They moved here for the sport, live music, street markets, festivals, food and access to the Peak District. When they go out, people always speak to them.

In contrast to Bath, they find Sheffield vibrant, friendly and interesting. And like us have never for a moment regretted their move into the city centre.

Bridget Ingle

Sheffield, S1