A webcast is now available of the Camden Council meeting on the 16th December when plans for the controversial massive UKCMRI laboratory for central London were approved by a majority of the councillors on the Development Control Committee who voted regarding this proposal at the meeting. The plans now need to be referred to the Mayor of London and the Department for Communities and Local Government for consideration and also a planned Parliamentary Committee Inquiry into the project has been announced. More below......

A webcast is now available of the Council Committee meeting on 16th December, when plans for the controversial UKCMRI bioresearch project were approved by a majority of the councillors present at the meeting on the voting panel - webcast here (this address may not work as a link but should work when copied into address bar): http://www.camden.ukcouncil.net/site/player/pl_compact.php?a=50005&t=0&m=wm&l=en_GB  The voting starts at around 02:32:52.                     

The four councillors who voted against the proposal are: Claire-Louise Leyland, Conservative (Belsize), Paul Braithwaite, Liberal Democrat (Cantelowes), Sean Birch, Labour (Gospel Oak) and Matt Sanders, Liberal Democrat (Haverstock). The one councillor who abstained is Flick Rea, Liberal Democrat (Fortune Green). The eight councillors who voted in favour of the UKCMRI proposal are: Milena Nuti, Labour (Bloomsbury), Sue Vincent, Labour (Holborn and Covent Garden), Sarah Hayward, Labour (King's Cross), Roger Freeman, Conservative (Swiss Cottage), Heather Johnson, Labour (Regent's Park), Andrew Marshall, Conservative (Swiss Cottage), Gillian Risso-Gill, Liberal Democrat (West Hampstead) and Jenny Headlam-Wells, Labour (Kentish Town).
The meeting, including statements/speeches by the planning officer and others and questions/statements from the voting panel etc took around two and a half hours but apart from two very short statements allowed by two councillors opposed and not on the voting panel, non-voting objectors were given only ten minutes to speak their views. A recommendation was made in the Planning Report, produced beforehand: "GRANT PLANNING PERMISSION SUBJECT TO A SECTION 106 LEGAL AGREEMENT BEING COMPLETED AND SUBJECT TO ANY DIRECTION FROM THE MAYOR OF LONDON STATING THE CONTRARY." The proposal now needs to be referred to the Mayor of London and CLG for consideration.

BORIS JOHNSON'S CONTACT INFORMATION: Mayor of London, Greater London Authority, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, More London, London, SE1 2AA. phone: 020 7983 4100 - email address: mayor@london.gov.uk 

NEW PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE INQUIRY: The Science and Technology Committee has announced an inquiry into the UKCMRI project. This is separate from the planning application made to Camden Council. Written submissions are accepted until 12th January, 2011. Link here to more information and guide to writing submissions -http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news/111118---new-inquiry-announced/ 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The gigantic UKCMRI bioresearch laboratory centre project is planned to handle extremely dangerous pathogens in 79,000 square metres of building in central London. Estimated to cost £600 million and a further £100 million per year to operate, the government have offered £220 million towards this at a time of brutal cutbacks. Link here to more information re original planning application. The Evening Standard has found out about a high security "management plan" for it - link to report here.