In February 2001, South Cambridgeshire District Council heard a planning application from Cambridge University to build a huge new research complex to carry out experiments on monkeys. It would be Europe's largest primate vivisection laboratory.
The proposed site would cover acres of green belt land close to Girton, a village on the northern outskirts of Cambridge. It would also be close to the junction of a motorway and several major 'A' roads.
At the planning hearing there were objections from anti-vivisectionists, environmental campaigners, local residents, and even the police (who feared that public protests would cause disruption).
The council unanimously rejected the application, to the relief of residents and campaigners.
A wealthy and influential government minister, with a vested and personal interest in the biotechnology industry, then intervened on the side of the university.
David (Lord) Sainsbury, recommended that the council should ignore the green belt designation 'in the national interest'. He claimed that the proposed research was of 'national importance'.
The billionaire Sainsbury has donated over £11 million to the Labour Party, and was rewarded with the title Lord Sainsbury and given the influential post of Science Minister, within the Dept of Trade and Industry.
Among his huge business interests is soleownership of a biotechnology company, as well as the world-wide patent for a key gene which is set to make substantial profits.
Despite the powerful intervention of Lord Sainsbury, when the university appealed, on 6 Feb 2002 South Cambridgeshire District Council once again overwhelmingly refused planning permission for the primate centre.
Cambridge University appealed again, this time to the national planning inspectorate.
Both Sainsbury and Prime Minister Tony Blair made further statements publicly supporting the university's application.
On Nov 26 2002, a public hearing began. The government announced that it intended to take the highly unusual step of making the decision, rather than leave it to the planning inspector.
Following the public hearing, the decision was deferred to some unspecified date. There has been constant speculation in the months since then that a decision is due 'any day now'.
Blair and Sainsbury have effectively hijacked the whole planning process and will issue a 'decree' at a date of their choosing.
Up until now, national societies and local campaigners have fought a long and hard fight within the system. Their reasoned arguments and peaceful methods have been successful at every stage of the democratic process.
Unfortunately this corrupt and disgraced government has shown contempt for
democracy and the rule of law.
Against this background, Speac was formed by a coalition of animal rights groups, in anticipation that the government will
overturn the the democratic process and give the go-ahead.
Speac is determined that these monkey laboratories will not be built, and we intend to mobilise a mass movement to oppose the plans, whatever it takes.
With your help, we can win this important battle. Get involved in the campaign, read the rest of the site and contact us to find out how you can help stop this.
NATIONAL DEMO:
Saturday 11th October
Meet 12 noon, Parker's Piece, Cambridge City Centre
The National March and Rally in Cambridge is a few days away, on Saturday October 11th. Look at the checklist below and see how you can help to ensure this day is successful, and that we send a clear signal to Cambridge University and the government that we will not tolerate the primate labs at Girton. Please do as much as you can, no matter how small, together we can stop this outrage.
1. Keep this Saturday free, October 11th.
2. There are already coaches and minibuses organised throughout the country. See below for details of transport arranged. Contact us if you need help with transport, or want to be put in touch in others in your area.
If you have space for other activists in your transport. contact speac to help coordinate transport and get as many people there as possible.
3. Spread the word. Order the flyers and posters or download them from the merchandise page on the SPEAK website. Leaflet your neighbours and put up posters in your area. Organise publicity stalls, download the petition from the merchandise page, and collect signatures.
4 Make your own placards and banners for the day. Be creative. On the last demo, there were some brilliant eye-catching designs. The campaign will be making loads for those who don't bring their own. Bring megaphones, whistles, horns etc.
5 Write to local and national press highlighting both the issue of the proposed lab, and also the march and rally on October 11.
Any other ideas, please let us know.
Details of coach/transport details we know of. Please contact us if you have transport arranged and have spare places. We are getting more and more calls every day. If your area isn't covered here, we are still working on several areas, contact us and we will do our best to organise something.
Midlands Coach £10 waged, £5 unwaged, picking up; Redditch Magistrates Court 8.30am, Birmingham 9.15am, Coventry 10am, To book a place and enquiries, call 07952 561652 or email
wmids_animalaction@yahoo.co.uk
Yorkshire coach £10 waged £5 unwaged Please make cheques payable to S. Brown and send to P.O BOX 1440, DN11 OXR. Bradford - 7.30am Hilton Hotel - Halls Ings, Leeds 7.45/8a.m Leeds playhouse - St. Peter's Street, Sheffield 8.30am Sainsbury's Savacentre carpark Meadowhall front entrance to savacentre
North-West Coach. Picking up; Liverpool, 7.45am, Brownlow Hill, opposite Adelphi Hotel. Lymm Services, Junction 20 of the M6, 8.30am. Also ferrying by car from Manchester out to Lymm Services, meet 7.45am Chorlton St Opposite Yates Wine Lodge. For further details and to book a place, contact 0845 456 0103, 07932 547785 (Manchester) or 0151 293 2009 (Liverpool),
Coach for Herts/Beds, pick up Hemel Hempstead Bus Station, 8.30am: Luton Rail Station, 9.00am: Milton Keynes Coachway, 9.45am; Bedford Rail Station 10.30am;
To book your seats, send £5 to Dacorum Animal Rights Group, P.O. Box 254, Hemel Hempstead, Herts., HP1 2SU. For more information, call 07949 166351 or 07815 794224 email; littleritchie15@hotmail.com
London Coach, Leaving Kings Cross, York Way, 9.45am, to book a place and for more details, call 07899 775493 or 07951 274371.
Oxford/Berks. Oxford Pick up TESCO car park, Cowley Retail Park/ring road leaving at 9am Maidenhead - Pick up BR Station in Maidenhead leaving at 9.45am High Wycombe - Handy Cross Sports Centre - Lower Car Park leaving at 10.15am Enquiries and to book, call 07957 588253
Suffolk, minibus from Ipswich, contact Ipswich Animal Rights, 07870 911573
West and Wales; Bath/Bristol bus, phone 07816 324669 bathanimalaction@yahoo.co.uk. PO Box 426, Bath, BA1 2ZD
Coach from Brighton and Hove, also picking up as Pease Pottage, phone 01323 833519/831818 email; hydee.fisher@btopenworld.com, to enquire and book a place
Norfolk, Norwich, transport, call for details 07736 403256, 07939 458846,
Devon/Cornwall, bus from Plymouth, may pick up en route, contact 01752 509275 email adrian@hisperil.co.uk.
Bournemouth Hants/Dorset 01202 593877, 07817 911724 Coach/minibus also picking up in Winchester
East Midlands contact 07956 553934, Nottingham/Derby/Leicester
As well as coming along to the advertised demos please don't forget to make your own demos, run-ins, stunts and actions happen - it is the element of surprise that will stop these labs being built.
http://www.primateprison.org/
The proposed site would cover acres of green belt land close to Girton, a village on the northern outskirts of Cambridge. It would also be close to the junction of a motorway and several major 'A' roads.
At the planning hearing there were objections from anti-vivisectionists, environmental campaigners, local residents, and even the police (who feared that public protests would cause disruption).
The council unanimously rejected the application, to the relief of residents and campaigners.
A wealthy and influential government minister, with a vested and personal interest in the biotechnology industry, then intervened on the side of the university.
David (Lord) Sainsbury, recommended that the council should ignore the green belt designation 'in the national interest'. He claimed that the proposed research was of 'national importance'.
The billionaire Sainsbury has donated over £11 million to the Labour Party, and was rewarded with the title Lord Sainsbury and given the influential post of Science Minister, within the Dept of Trade and Industry.
Among his huge business interests is soleownership of a biotechnology company, as well as the world-wide patent for a key gene which is set to make substantial profits.
Despite the powerful intervention of Lord Sainsbury, when the university appealed, on 6 Feb 2002 South Cambridgeshire District Council once again overwhelmingly refused planning permission for the primate centre.
Cambridge University appealed again, this time to the national planning inspectorate.
Both Sainsbury and Prime Minister Tony Blair made further statements publicly supporting the university's application.
On Nov 26 2002, a public hearing began. The government announced that it intended to take the highly unusual step of making the decision, rather than leave it to the planning inspector.
Following the public hearing, the decision was deferred to some unspecified date. There has been constant speculation in the months since then that a decision is due 'any day now'.
Blair and Sainsbury have effectively hijacked the whole planning process and will issue a 'decree' at a date of their choosing.
Up until now, national societies and local campaigners have fought a long and hard fight within the system. Their reasoned arguments and peaceful methods have been successful at every stage of the democratic process.
Unfortunately this corrupt and disgraced government has shown contempt for
democracy and the rule of law.
Against this background, Speac was formed by a coalition of animal rights groups, in anticipation that the government will
overturn the the democratic process and give the go-ahead.
Speac is determined that these monkey laboratories will not be built, and we intend to mobilise a mass movement to oppose the plans, whatever it takes.
With your help, we can win this important battle. Get involved in the campaign, read the rest of the site and contact us to find out how you can help stop this.
NATIONAL DEMO:
Saturday 11th October
Meet 12 noon, Parker's Piece, Cambridge City Centre
The National March and Rally in Cambridge is a few days away, on Saturday October 11th. Look at the checklist below and see how you can help to ensure this day is successful, and that we send a clear signal to Cambridge University and the government that we will not tolerate the primate labs at Girton. Please do as much as you can, no matter how small, together we can stop this outrage.
1. Keep this Saturday free, October 11th.
2. There are already coaches and minibuses organised throughout the country. See below for details of transport arranged. Contact us if you need help with transport, or want to be put in touch in others in your area.
If you have space for other activists in your transport. contact speac to help coordinate transport and get as many people there as possible.
3. Spread the word. Order the flyers and posters or download them from the merchandise page on the SPEAK website. Leaflet your neighbours and put up posters in your area. Organise publicity stalls, download the petition from the merchandise page, and collect signatures.
4 Make your own placards and banners for the day. Be creative. On the last demo, there were some brilliant eye-catching designs. The campaign will be making loads for those who don't bring their own. Bring megaphones, whistles, horns etc.
5 Write to local and national press highlighting both the issue of the proposed lab, and also the march and rally on October 11.
Any other ideas, please let us know.
Details of coach/transport details we know of. Please contact us if you have transport arranged and have spare places. We are getting more and more calls every day. If your area isn't covered here, we are still working on several areas, contact us and we will do our best to organise something.
Midlands Coach £10 waged, £5 unwaged, picking up; Redditch Magistrates Court 8.30am, Birmingham 9.15am, Coventry 10am, To book a place and enquiries, call 07952 561652 or email
wmids_animalaction@yahoo.co.uk Yorkshire coach £10 waged £5 unwaged Please make cheques payable to S. Brown and send to P.O BOX 1440, DN11 OXR. Bradford - 7.30am Hilton Hotel - Halls Ings, Leeds 7.45/8a.m Leeds playhouse - St. Peter's Street, Sheffield 8.30am Sainsbury's Savacentre carpark Meadowhall front entrance to savacentre
North-West Coach. Picking up; Liverpool, 7.45am, Brownlow Hill, opposite Adelphi Hotel. Lymm Services, Junction 20 of the M6, 8.30am. Also ferrying by car from Manchester out to Lymm Services, meet 7.45am Chorlton St Opposite Yates Wine Lodge. For further details and to book a place, contact 0845 456 0103, 07932 547785 (Manchester) or 0151 293 2009 (Liverpool),
Coach for Herts/Beds, pick up Hemel Hempstead Bus Station, 8.30am: Luton Rail Station, 9.00am: Milton Keynes Coachway, 9.45am; Bedford Rail Station 10.30am;
To book your seats, send £5 to Dacorum Animal Rights Group, P.O. Box 254, Hemel Hempstead, Herts., HP1 2SU. For more information, call 07949 166351 or 07815 794224 email;
littleritchie15@hotmail.com London Coach, Leaving Kings Cross, York Way, 9.45am, to book a place and for more details, call 07899 775493 or 07951 274371.
Oxford/Berks. Oxford Pick up TESCO car park, Cowley Retail Park/ring road leaving at 9am Maidenhead - Pick up BR Station in Maidenhead leaving at 9.45am High Wycombe - Handy Cross Sports Centre - Lower Car Park leaving at 10.15am Enquiries and to book, call 07957 588253
Suffolk, minibus from Ipswich, contact Ipswich Animal Rights, 07870 911573
West and Wales; Bath/Bristol bus, phone 07816 324669
bathanimalaction@yahoo.co.uk. PO Box 426, Bath, BA1 2ZD Coach from Brighton and Hove, also picking up as Pease Pottage, phone 01323 833519/831818 email;
hydee.fisher@btopenworld.com, to enquire and book a place Norfolk, Norwich, transport, call for details 07736 403256, 07939 458846,
Devon/Cornwall, bus from Plymouth, may pick up en route, contact 01752 509275 email
adrian@hisperil.co.uk. Bournemouth Hants/Dorset 01202 593877, 07817 911724 Coach/minibus also picking up in Winchester
East Midlands contact 07956 553934, Nottingham/Derby/Leicester
As well as coming along to the advertised demos please don't forget to make your own demos, run-ins, stunts and actions happen - it is the element of surprise that will stop these labs being built.
http://www.primateprison.org/ 
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