The COUNCIL beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. The large animal facilities in North West Cambridge include barns, stables, holding yards, grazing, and a purpose-built research unit constructed in 1997 for work on farm animals. These facilities, which are fully compliant with Home Office regulations for large animal work under the Scientific (Animal Procedures) Act 1986, are used for breeding and studying farm animals by several Departments and are essential to teaching and research in the Department of Physiology, in particular. While the research unit requires relatively minor refurbishment, many of the ancillary facilities needed to run this unit are in poor repair and will lose their certificate of designation if not refurbished soon. In some instances, replacement rather than refurbishment is the more cost effective way to maintain the particular facility. Thus the School of the Biological Sciences is proposing to improve the facilities available on the site by a mix of refurbishment, demolition, and construction. In this Report the Council seek approval for the demolition of the buildings identified below and the construction of replacement buildings. The project, which is consistent with the needs of the development plan of the School, is essential to ensure that the University maintains the infrastructure and academic skills to capitalize on new funding initiatives in integrative biology and physiology for improving animal health and welfare.
2. The new buildings, which would replace the very poor condition buildings F18D and F18H shown in the plan below, would be constructed in one phase. The buildings which would be demolished have a total area of 1,407 sq.m.; the proposed new buildings would provide a total area of 1,315 sq.m.
3. The estimated cost of the work is £1.1m. The project has been approved by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for support from the Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF) round 2 funding programme and full funding for the scheme has been secured from SRIF-2. The Planning and Resources Committee and the Resource Management Committee have recommended the budget and funding proposals, respectively, for approval.
4. No significant incremental running costs are anticipated for the new facilities.
5. In view of the time frame for spending SRIF-2 funding, to commence this building contract by August 2005 it will be necessary to submit a planning application during March 2005.
6. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Old Schools Arcade.
7. The Council recommend as follows:
I. That approval be given for the demolition of the redundant agricultural buildings, F18D and F18H, at North West Cambridge
II. That approval be given for the construction of agricultural buildings for the School of the Biological Sciences at North West Cambridge.
III. That the Acting Treasurer be authorized to accept a tender for the works, within the available funding, on the advice of the Director of the Estate Management and Building Service.
| 28 February 2005 | ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor | GEMMA DONALDSON | MARTIN REES |
| R. J. ANDERSON | BOB DOWLING | G. A. REID | |
| A. J. BADGER | DAVID S. INGRAM | DAVID SIMON | |
| Z. BARANSKI | RUTH KEELING | WES STREETING | |
| RICHARD BARNES | D. LOWTHER | LIBA TAUB | |
| NIGEL BROWN | D. W. B. MACDONALD | JOAN M. WHITEHEAD | |
| WILLIAM BROWN | JAMES MATHESON | RICHARD WILSON | |
| MIKE CLARK | |||