Plans for a new Central Teaching Laboratory have been made, to be used by the Faculty of Science and Health.
A key project driver for this is to meet sustainability targets, however nine mature trees will have to be felled for its construction to begin.
We reached out to Sarah L Boddy, Environmental officer from the Sheffield University and College Union.
She said: “I recognise the university will sometimes have to chop down trees but the more I looked into it the more I was not very happy.
“They seem to want to replace the current teaching lab estate put in different buildings where students are normally taught, into a centralised building and that doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense environmentally.”
The location of the building would be on Upper Hanover Street, the main entrance to be on Leavygreave Road, opposite to the Information Commons.
The number of students in these faculties have increased, and therefore the University aims to improve utilisation and efficiency of space with this building.
She also expressed her feelings towards the potential costs of this development.
She said: “How can they justify that right at the moment when they’re telling faculties to cut back because they’re worried about student numbers.”
Sarah raised concerns about the date of the planning application being sent to the council on 31 July, a time when students are away and so are unlikely to raise complaints.
She said: “We just found the timing of that to be a bit cynical.”
The planning application has received 13 public comment objections to these plans.
In August this year, the university obtained a second opinion on the possibility of moving the trees, to check their options.
They have planned to replant trees close to the site with a possible ratio of 2:1, and made a proposal of a ‘pocket park’ at the Former five Favell Road to plant 12 small trees.
The 31 car parking spaces on the site will also close as part of CTL development.
The planning application transport statement explained that this is to encourage access by sustainable transport modes.
We contacted the campus trade union representative on the Travel Advisory Group, Maureen J Howard.
She said: “Previously, I have been told there are ‘no plans to build or provide further parking’. Which is outrageous.
“Despite the University’s focus on its green impact and sustainability strategy, it is vital that staff have adequate parking, so if this new build results in the loss of yet more parking spaces, there are serious concerns.”
The development of the building aims to provide state of the art facilities to improve staff and student experience.
It will include two teaching laboratories with a capacity of 300, as well as a digitally enabled space to help with the aim of their key project driver, to provide world class teaching facilities.
We spoke to a student from the biomedical department, who wished to stay anonymous.
She explained how she wasn’t aware of these plans.
She said: “I think plans for a new lab building would definitely make a huge difference to learning as it allows more space for more equipment.”
When asked about her feelings on the trees that would have to be removed, she said: “The type of research being done at Sheffield has fundamental economic and environmental potential.
“The price of cutting down 9 trees for ground-breaking research is a price we should be willing to make, no hesitation.”
The University released a press release that says it estimates the building could generate 720 job years of employment, boosting the local economy.
A University of Sheffield spokesperson said: “We always aim to find a balance between our environmental goals and the social and economic needs of the University and wider city.
“Our new Central Teaching Labs facility will replace several older, less efficient spaces and is an investment to provide our students with the best possible facilities.
“Cutting down trees is always a last resort for the University and we have worked through several options to retain the trees on this site. However, the root ball of mature trees is at least as big as the canopy so retaining these trees would make this site unsuitable for building.
“We will replace all trees lost on a two-for-one basis and have already identified sites for many of these in close proximity to the development.
“As a city centre campus we are restricted in what space we have for development, and this brown field site is one of the few available spaces within our estate. It is well served by public transport and represents an efficient use of urban space.”
Sheffield City Council are expecting to make a decision on this by late October.
Written By Casey Peyton
