Recently, the hoarding has come down, the accidentally shattered panes have been patched up, and the whole lot has had a good dose of silicone sealant. No I’m not talking about the new faculty building, it’s the new ‘Life Sciences Centre’ that’s almost finished.

Not that I’m slagging the result off. No, that would be unconstructive. In fact, even I think that it has improved the look of the building, particularly where the offices inside have been renovated. But all buildings, particularly University buildings, should be functional and well designed.

Upon reference to the Imperial College Environmental Management Policy we see that under section e, not only are improved facilities for cyclists to be implemented, but also minimisation of car parking facilities. So it seems to me from the photo above that both those policy pointers seem to have been ignored! At least 13 new parking spaces have been liberated from the merciless grip of cyclists, who continue having to search for any sort of railing to attach their free transport to. Goodness knows what the parking pressure will be like in Summer, when as many as double the number of students will cycle to College. We are, as was revealed on Live! last year, due to get 600 more spaces in the eastern end of campus next year, but out west racks still lack, despite protestations at all levels.

Now that the presidential election campaign has been so honourably fought and won, will we be seeing some more action from the incumbent, Mr. Arif, who has campaigned on a bike rack ticket, and now has all those glorious 18 months to get something done about it? Let’s hope so, as the season for dusting off that saddle and re-inflating those tyres is almost with us….