Carter Jonas looks to gain planning consent for Natural History Museum
Carter Jonas, the property experts with offices in Oxford and Winchester, has been appointed by the Natural History Museum to advise on planning matters and prepare a planning application for a new Collections, Digitisation and Research Centre at the Thames Valley Science Park.
The Natural History Museum recently received £20 million of Government funding for the Unlocked programme, on top of the £182m announced at Spring Budget 2020. This will support a Government-wide priority to increase investment in UK science, research and development, and facilitates the Museum’s largest collections move for over 140 years.
This NHM Unlocked Programme will move 28 million specimens to Thames Valley Science Park in partnership with the University of Reading. These specimens cover every ocean and land mass of the planet, ranging from a microscopic ‘water bear’ that can survive in outer space, to the remains of whales. The collection facility will also house a science and digitisation centre, allowing the NHM to perform research concerning issues including biodiversity and climate change.
Partner at Carter Jonas in Oxford Nicky Brock said: “The Natural History Museum cares for more than 80 million specimens, spanning billions of years. We are very pleased to be able to assist the Museum, in its plans leading up to its 150th anniversary in 2031, in securing the future of this extremely important collection.”
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The planned move is reminiscent of The Science Museum's 2021 move to its collection management facility at the National Collections Centre in Wiltshire, an operation that was as focused on sustainability as it was expansion.
Director of the Natural History Museum Doug Gurr said: “This new facility allows the Natural History Museum to safely store its irreplaceable collections for generations to come. Once built, the centre will help find solutions to the planetary emergency using collections and research to answer the big questions of today including maintaining food security, improving biodiversity and addressing climate change.”
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