A 500 space customer Cycle Parking facility in Cambridge's Corn Exchange Street is sitting locked and unused next to Cambridge's new John Lewis store. This is in spite of a legally binding agreement between the Grand Arcade developers and Cambridge City Council that the neighbouring Car Park should not be opened before the Cycle Park. The Car Park has been open since May.

County Council works to improve access to the Cycle Park via Corn Exchange Street held up the opening date, but these works were completed two months ago now. This delay gave Grosvenor, the Grand Arcade developers, a four month extension on their original agreement. Yet they have still arrived at the point where the flagship store has opened with no cycle parking at all at the busiest time of the shopping year. In May, Grosvenor assured us that the cycle parking would be opened in September.

John Lewis staff told a Cambridge Cycling Campaign member: “there's no call for bike parking round here”. Clearly this was not one of their staff who cycle to work (in a city where 25% of commuters are cyclists) who, like their customers, have nowhere to leave their bikes. John Lewis has indicated that it may be another four months before the Cycle Park is opened, and with 20% fewer spaces than the original plans showed.

Campaigner David Earl said: "We feel completely betrayed by the developers and the planning process. The developers bent over backwards to get the Car Park re-opened on schedule, but quite clearly care much less about cyclists who make up such a large proportion of the community in Cambridge."

He continued: "it is scandalous that a development on this scale can be allowed to open in Cambridge without the associated cycle parking and that the City Council has allowed them to get away with it. All the old nearby cycle parking was removed, on the assurance that the new Cycle Park would replace it, so it is not even as if cyclists can just park where they used to. Compounding the problem is that the cycle parking outside former Bradwell's Court in St Andrews Street has also not yet been replaced despite shops now opening in the new Christ's Lane development."

Cambridge Cycling Campaign calls on the City Council to enforce the agreement immediately. Following the agreement to the letter would concentrate minds and purses as it would require the Car Park to be closed until the Cycle Park is ready. There is no need to be so extreme, however, if alternative arrangements are made at once.

Cambridge Cycling Campaign understands that a tenant is being arranged to operate the Cycle Park. The Campaign calls on the Grosvenor, John Lewis and the City Council to make immediate temporary arrangements for cycle parking in the area until the longer term future of the Cycle Park is agreed.