Gloucestershire bike park at risk of closure due to major roadworks 

Owners of a bike park in Gloucestershire say they’re at risk of closing due to major roadworks. 

417 Bike Park/FlyUp runs alongside the A417 near Witcombe and is being turned into a dual carriageway as part of the Missing Link project. 

The A417 Missing Link scheme aims to tackle the long-standing congestion and safety issues.

The owners of the bike park claim National Highways has gone back on assurances made when the plans were first drawn up.

Angela Ruskin, founder, and Dave Webb, the general manager, put out a video on YouTube about the situation. 

Angela said: “Discussions have been ongoing for the last five years with a plan to mitigate the impact the A417 road scheme would have on the bike park.

“Part of the assurances given by highways for the bike park, and included in the planning inspectors report that allowed them to gain their powers, were to make sure we were allowed to continue running as before.”

Plans were made for the bike park to make some changes in order to continue running alongside the roadworks. 

This included a new car park, a temporary building, moving paths and trails, and creating a new access road. 

Angela said: “[The] perfect solution, I’m sure you’ll all agree.”

However, she said everything changed last November when there was a change of personnel at National Highways. 

She said: “The assurances given during the [planning] process were retracted by highways without any explanation.

“It’s from this point the everything completely changed then all of a sudden, the future of the bike park took a drastic turn.”

Now that video has been viewed by 15,000 people within 10 days - since its release communication between the bike park and highways has resumed. 

Steve Foxley, project director for the A417 Missing Link scheme, said: “We appreciate that any work, particularly on such a major project, may cause disruption for nearby businesses and aim to do all we can to minimise that disturbance as much as possible. 

“Reimbursement has already been paid, and any land temporarily acquired would be returned following completion of the scheme.

“We’re working closely with FlyUp to address concerns and have agreed to delay the start of works on their land to allow for further discussions. 

“We have suggested a list of changes that we believe will protect their facilities and allow them to keep trading, including site safety and reducing the land required for us to undertake our works. We are continuing to engage and we have further meetings planned to discuss these matters. 

“We are working within our approved planning constraints, and we will continue to engage with FlyUp to minimise any impacts from this important and much needed project.”

Target PR, speaking on behalf of the bike park, said: "Following a meeting with the regional director of National Highways [on Thursday 28 March], we are now in discussions regarding a short-term plan which we hope to have in agreement by next week. That will enable us to continue to operate while initial works on hoardings begin on the 417 Bike Park.

“But the long-term plan is still unclear, and we are in ongoing dialogue with National Highways to understand more fully the impact that this will have on our business.

“On behalf of all the team here at the Flyup 417 Bike Park we’d like to say a big thank you again for all your continued support – we’ll keep you posted on any developments."