X-CAPE
Victory! Cambridge primate lab plans withdrawn
A statement from Animal Aid and NAVS follows:
Animal Aid and the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) have
welcomed the news that Cambridge University has decided to drop their
plans for a controversial primate research lab.
Animal Aid and NAVS are the organisations that have lodged a High
Court Appeal over the decision of John Prescott to grant permission
for the controversial laboratory, overruling the advice of his own Planning
Inspector.
"Contrary to the University's claims", said Andrew
Tyler and Jan Creamer, directors of Animal Aid and NAVS, "this decision
is an acknowledgement that Cambridge failed at the Public
Inquiry to demonstrate that these proposed experiments would be of
any benefit to people. The Government's Inspector heard scientific evidence
for and against animal experiments and advised
that permission for the lab should be refused".
The proposed primate lab has attracted opposition from both inside and
outside the University - the local council refused permission,
Cambridgeshire police were opposed to it, as were residents,
and groups such as the NAVS and
Animal Aid.
The University's claim that their change of heart is due to spiralling
security costs is plain nonsense. Both Cambridge and their supporters
asserted during the Inquiry that security was not a problem
at the chosen site, and security did not feature as an issue in the Planning
Inspector's report.
"Cambridge simply failed to make the case for a national
need for this laboratory" said Andrew Tyler and Jan Creamer. "This
proposal was opposed by many within the university itself; over 130 MPs
expressed their opposition, as well as the public, in opinion polls. In
addition, it would have been a massive financial burden for a university
that is already millions of pounds in debt. A centre of excellence in
the field of brain research is better served using modern techniques such
as brain scanning equipment."
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