This morning, yet another planning application has been made for the Arena Retail Park in Coventry, where nothing will be done to change the existing woeful under provision of cycle parking.
In this, the ultimate car dominated retail destination, where the main access is via the A444 dual carriageway, catering for people on foot or using bikes has always been a nuisance of an afterthought, because, of course, the retail solutions analysts have told everyone that “only cars buy things”. Bizarrely, after a social media and email campaign, cyclists can at least park outside the Decathlon store, so they can then go in and buy another bike if they so wish. These stands were installed after the retailer pressured the management agents, who in turn look after the site on behalf of the freehold owners, Tesco Plc.
Now it is still possible to visit the Tesco store itself, and then walk the full length of the store to reach the main entrance, courtesy of some parking stands bat the southern entrance, adjacent to the library. Yet between these two ends, there is a whopping 540m to walk, a distance that is totally unreasonable to make cycling convenient and attractive, just as Coventry City Council’s own policies say it should be.
Although the planning application is only for signage, objections can still be made on any material grounds, and there is precedent from the Alvis Retail Park scheme, where cosmetic changes were made to the store frontages, with cycle parking being added as a condition.
It’s time the same was done here.
Application reference: ADV/2016/0137
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