Chiang Lim | Parramatta Councillor - Plans approved but no money to build

Plans approved but no money to build

By Alison Mills, Parramatta Sun, 26 May 2010

A lack of funding has meant construction of a new building to house the Children's Medical Research Institute at Westmead cannot start.

The new facility is needed to enable the Institute's scientists to continue their life-saving research, which is focused on four main areas -- understanding cancer, nerve cell signalling, embryo development and gene therapy for the treatment of genetic conditions.

The general manager for philanthropy and community development at the Institute, Stephen Ryall, said all the plans for the new building had been approved by the state government under major projects planning provisions but construction could not start until funding of about $130 million was available.

In an effort to raise these funds, the Institute is appealing to both the state and federal governments to help fill the empty coffers.

``The bottom line is we could start construction now if we had the money,'' Mr Ryall said.

Currently there are some 100 scientists working at the Institute but they have ``outgrown'' the existing facilities and in order to fulfil the organisation's mission to improve the health of future generations, their number needs to grow to about 600 during the next 10 years.

But an expansion in research capabilities first requires an expansion of space.

The Institute's plan is to build on existing infrastructure in a five stage process to allow research to continue uninterrupted.

The new facility will feature sustainable design principles, modular laboratory spaces, an auditorium for 300 and a centralised atrium connecting adjacent research buildings.

The sustainable design will encourage researchers to share resources, tackle challenges and extend their research capability.

Mr Ryall said while the Institute's major fundraiser, Jeans for Genes day, had provided some $50 million since 1994, this was for on-going funding like wages and other expenses.