Somers Town needs Council Housing, not Scaremongering April 27, 2008
Posted by cathrynsymons in : Camden,Politics , trackbackPosters have gone up around Somers Town suggesting that the new British Library International Science Site (BLISS) medical research centre planned for the land behind the British Library would be an inner-city version of Porton Down, and an article in the Guardian Education supplement last week sent me off to the local Community Centre on Saturday morning, where staff from the medical institutions involved were available to talk to local people about their plans.
I firmly believe that the BLISS should not be built on that site, because this area desperately needs more affordable housing, and the government should stand up to its promise to build council homes. There’s a strong local campaign underway trying to make that happen. However, it hadn’t occurred to me that the likes of the Medical Research Council or Cancer Research UK would be dangerous neighbours. After all, they’re both already in the area anyway, and there are a lot of other medical research facilities around here. It’s a major local industry.
Talking for nearly an hour with Sir Leszek Boryziewicz, the CEO of the MRC, completely upheld that opinion. He is a tall, quietly spoken gentleman. He introduced himself, I thought, as ‘Les’, saying the s oddly so it must have been ‘Leszek’. He clearly, but without being patronising, explained the type of research they are likely to do, the sorts of security that would be in place and the risks involved.
A scientist rather than a PR person, he qualifies his statements unless he is absolutely 100% sure of something. I find that reassuring, though it may seem uncertain. So, because the committee working out what science would be done in the new centre has yet to report, he won’t guarantee that this will not be a category 4 lab as discussed in the Guardian article, though he thinks it unlikely. Diseases like Ebola and Lassi Fever are not even dealt with in civilian facilities in the UK – if there was any work with them, it would be in a military facility like Porton Down. There is no reason for Somers Town to be patrolled by armed police, as suggested in the posters which have appeared.
It is unlikely that the level of hazard here will be any higher than it is in many labs and hospitals around Bloomsbury and Holburn. The MRC does research on HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and flu, and it is likely that would continue in the new lab. Given that Somers Town has a very high incidence of tuberculosis that is perhaps something we should support.
Sir Leszek is a man who was knighted for inventing a vaccine against cervical cancer, and likes Ben Goldacre. If it turns out that we can’t make council housing happen, then I’ll be very pleased indeed to welcome him to the area.
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry