Camden Council to consider Brill Place lab plans

Published: 09 September, 2010
by DAN CARRIER

TO its backers, it represents an opportunity for King’s Cross to be at the centre of a global fight against killer diseases. For its opponents it is an eyesore that will take up land that could be used for social housing.

Now Camden Council’s planning committee will get to judge, as the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) has lodged its plans at the Town Hall for Brill Place. 

The UKCMRI – made up of University College London, the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council – hope their scheme will be con­sidered by the planning committee before Christ­mas and the building will be ready for 1,500 scientists and researchers to move in by 2015.

Campaign group St Pancras and Somers Town Planning Action are against the scheme. Member Rob Inglis said: “I can’t see anything of this type ever being suggested in Hampstead. We feel our area is taken for granted. The establishment behind this scheme think they can just push and pull Somers Town about.

“For many, the concern is that this is  the last piece of land in Somers Town that could be used for social housing, but one of my personal concerns is safety. What are the chances of infected material escaping? 

“They boast this will be Europe’s largest lab – and it is right beside Europe’s biggest transport terminal. That is a worry.”

UKCMRI chairman Sir David Cooksey said: “The proposed building has been designed to meet future scientific demands and to respond to the architectural heritage of the area. 

“We have modified the exterior, public areas and open spaces in response to consul­tation.

“UKCMRI is perfectly positioned to bring together a wealth of expertise to tackle some of the biggest challenges in beating cancers, heart disease, stroke, flu and neuro-degenerative diseases. It sits within the extraordinary cluster of medical and scientific expertise already found in Camden.”