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UK: High Court Challenge to Animal Research Centre Story filed: 08:10 Saturday 3rd January 2004 Two animal rights groups have launched a High Court challenge to the Government's decision to allow Cambridge University to develop a medical research centre where tests will be carried out on monkeys. Animal Aid and the National Anti-Vivisection Society expect a judge to hear their appeal against Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's decision to allow the massive primate research laboratory to be built on green belt land at Girton on the outskirts of Cambridge in the Spring. The groups say Mr Prescott, who gave the project the green light in November, made a decision which was "perverse, unreasonable and unfair". Mr Prescott, who has overall responsibility for planning, gave his approval despite a recommendation from a planning inspector that the proposal should be rejected. Planning authority South Cambridgeshire District Council had also refused permission for the development after police raised fears about public safety at the site, which is on a main road. But, following a planning inquiry in Cambridge last year, Mr Prescott said he considered it strongly in the national interest that such a laboratory should be developed close to Cambridge University, which is a centre for medical research. The two animal rights groups will argue that Mr Prescott's decision was a "foregone conclusion" because Prime Minister Tony Blair prejudiced the process by making public statements in support of the plan before the planning inquiry had been held. They also say Department of Trade and Industry minister Lord Sainsbury influenced the decision by "erroneously claiming" that the findings of a House of Lords Select Committee inquiry on animal experiments supported the proposal. The groups also say objectors were denied information during the inquiry in Cambridge last year which was a breach of their human rights. "We are saying in this appeal that the intervention in this case by the Prime Minister and the DTI minister amounts to an abuse of the planning process. The only way for my clients to get a fair hearing is to go to court," said Norna Hughes, solicitor for Animal Aid and the NAVS. Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, and Jan Creamer, chief executive of NAVS, said in a joint statement: "The Prime Minister, John Prescott, and Lord Sainsbury appear to be riding roughshod over public opinion and the facts of this case." The university said the centre was vital for the development of research into diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's but said there were funding problems. SOURCE: Ananova, UK http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_851687.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn