£660m super-lab gets go ahead in Brill Place - New science centre set to be built instead of social housing

Published: 23 December 2010
by DAN CARRIER

SOMERS Town is set to host scientists’ quest to beat some of the world’s biggest killer diseases after a controversial plan to build a £660million super-lab was given the go-ahead.

The research centre will be built by 2015 on an empty site in Brill Place, behind the British Library, by a research consortium called the UKMRCI. Its 12-storey design on land ­previously earmarked for social housing and open space sparked uproar when the proposals went public.

In an acrimonious meeting last Thursday, Camden Council took the unprecedented step of having a police presence, while the Town Hall’s front entrance shutters were pulled down and security guards patrolled the building. Tickets were also issued for the public gallery, due to fears that animal rights protesters would attempt to disrupt the proceedings. 

After a three-hour debate, the plans were approved by eight votes to four. Protesters say they will now take their fight to block the plans to the Greater London Authority and ­Mayor’s office, which has the final say over the scheme.

Campaigner Natalie Bennett, who is part of civic group St Pancras and Somers Town Planning Action, said after the meeting she was disappointed with the decision. 

“I do not think the UKMRCI made their case,” she added. “They say they want to cure cancer – but do they do that by spending ­millions on a fancy building with swanky glass atriums?

“We are gravely concerned about the amount of money being spent not on research but a flash office block. They have never been forced to answer the question on the real need for this building. 

“We asked for peer reviewed research to back up their claims they needed to build this lab and they have simply ignored us. We will take the fight to Boris Johnson and the government’s select committee on science and innovation to try and block this decision.”

The UKMRCI’s chief operating executive John Cooper, representing the Medical Research Council, The Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and University College London, said he was pleased with the decision that will see around £10m worth of sweeteners paid to the council to spend in Somers Town. 

He added: “What is important is councillors recognised the enormous benefits for both health research and for the local community.”

The meeting heard passionate calls for the scheme to be turned down. 

Ms Bennett told the Chamber that the site had already been earmarked for open space and social housing – and if the council passed the decision, it would mean they were ignoring their own borough-wide planning programme.

 “This is actually about democracy,” she said. “They know what the planning brief is for this site. Councillors have made these plans with the local community they represent. The UKMRCI simply want to ride roughshod over this. The fact is this laboratory could go anywhere.” 

Somers Town Labour councillor Roger Robinson called for the original plans for the site to be honoured. 

He said: “We are desperately short of social housing and it is monstrous to think we may lose one of the last remaining places in our ward that had been earmarked for social housing tonight.”

Cancer Research UK chief Harpul Kumar told councillors of the impact on medical science the new building would have. He opened his case for the building by saying two in five people in the room would suffer from cancer and that 400 people die each day from it in Britain alone. Mr Kumar  claimed that the best way to fight cancer, heart disease, degenerative illnesses and other big killers was to bring scientists under one roof in Camden. 

He added: “We have chosen this site because it is near some of the world’s leading hospitals. It means scientists and doctors can work closely together in a world-class environment. We want to do the best research in the world to address the diseases that affect mankind.”

Mr Cooper told the meeting that fears over potentially deadly diseases escaping form the building were unfounded. He said: “We set out clearly the precautions we will take. There have been rumours that we would be working on smallpox, anthrax, the plague and ebola. We would not be working on them.” 

He added that the research centre in Mill Hill had an “exemplary” safety record.

The proposals also outlined the benefits for people living in Somers Town, ranging from a Living Centre – a community space on the ground floor that could be used for a variety of different projects to promote healthy living – to close links with schools.

A lecture space and voluntary schemes that will see scientists take pupils on tours and go into classrooms has been promised.

The scheme has also boasted it will give people in Somers Town jobs – from bringing in 40 young people onboard to help build the lab, to offering five apprenticeships a year  to train as technicians. Mr Cooper also claimed that cash would be spent insulating homes in the area – and would bring around 250 Somers Town families out of fuel poverty.

Labour councillor Sarah Hayward queried what the scheme would really mean for businesses in the area. She said she believes most of the staff would use St Pancras Inter­national’s supermarkets instead of cafes and independent shops. 

But Mr Cooper said they would ensure their staff were aware of places such as the Chalton Street market. 

He added: “Scientists are not highly paid. They will not be wanting to go into St Pancras International and pay the sort of prices you have to pay there. They will find and use local businesses. We have done economic research and it shows that 40 per cent of disposable income of staff would  be spent in the surrounding area. That equates to millions over the years.”