The COUNCIL beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. A new building to house various species of birds in conditions that approximate to their natural conditions is proposed for the Department of Zoology's Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour at Madingley. The existing avian research laboratories were declared unsafe by the University's Health and Safety Division in 2002, due to land subsidence and structural insecurity of asbestos roofing, and surveys have demonstrated that a replacement building is the most cost-effective option. Research in the field of avian evolutionary studies has expanded in the Departments of Zoology and Experimental Psychology. The laboratory-based research at the Avian Laboratory is carried out under Home Office licence and comprises non-invasive investigations into how conflicts of interest within the family group are resolved. This research enhances the theoretical modelling and fieldwork studies of internationally recognized groups both in the Department of Zoology and in cognate disciplines in the School of Biological Sciences. The new facilities will enable and promote multidisciplinary collaborations between these complementary approaches to evolutionary biology, which is a core theme underlying the Department of Zoology's research strategy. The integrative biology theme of this research is a strategic priority area of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
2. 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.
3. The scheme is consistent with the needs of the Department's development plan and will be constructed in one phase, in the location shown in the plan below, after the demolition of a vacant and redundant building (Building ref: F11N) of total area 109 sq.m. The proposed new building will provide a total area of 251 sq.m.
4. The Finance Committee and the Resource Management Committee have recommended the budget and proposals, respectively, for approval. The estimated cost of the work is £750,000. Full funding for the scheme has been secured as follows: £525,000 from HEFCE SRIF-2; £25,000 from the Department of Zoology's own funds; £200,000 from the Animal Facilities Upgrade Fund.
5. The running costs of the building are estimated at £5,700 a year and will be met from funds available to the Department.
6. In view of the time frame for spending SRIF-2 funding, to commence this building contract by March 2005 a planning application was submitted on 17 December 2004.
7. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Old Schools Arcade.
8. The Council recommend as follows:
I. That approval be given for the demolition of the redundant Animal Building, F11N, at Madingley.
II. That approval be given for the construction of an Avian Laboratory for the Department of Zoology at the Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, Madingley.
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.
| 17 January 2005 | ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor | GEMMA DONALDSON | MARTIN REES |
| R. J. ANDERSON | RUTH KEELING | G. A. REID | |
| TONY BADGER | DAVID S. INGRAM | WES STREETING | |
| Z. BARANSKI | D. W. B. MACDONALD | JOAN M. WHITEHEAD | |
| N. W. BROWN | JAMES MATHESON | RICHARD WILSON | |
| WILLIAM BROWN |