Vale of White Horse District Council has granted planning permission for a facility in Oxfordshire that will provide the UK’s first bespoke strategic vaccine development and manufacturing capability.
Construction for the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre, which is a nonprofit based at Harwell Campus, is already underway.
The Vale of White Horse District Council allowed works to begin while processing the application, owing to the role it will play in manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines.
Glencar Construction is the main contractor for the circa 80,000 sq ft centre.
The government awarded a £93m grant to the centre in May, with the purpose of expanding the facility’s capabilities and fast-tracking the build by a year for operational readiness in 2021.
VMIC has also invested in more technology to increase its manufacturing capacity so it can produce 70 million pandemic vaccine doses within four to six months.
To fast-track planning permission council officers significantly increased the number of meetings typically held for a project of this scale with all the major stakeholders. These included VMIC, project manager Harwell Campus Management, Glencar, planning consultant Carter Jonas and UK Research and Innovation.
Councillor Neil Fawcett, cabinet member for strategic partnerships and place at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “Everyone involved in the planning process, including a significant number of consultees, have recognised the national importance of this project and have prioritised their time to ensure any issues were identified and resolved quickly.
“This proactive partnership-based approach has enabled us to progress the application to approval under delegated powers as quickly as possible while building work is taking place.”
Cliff Dare, chief operating officer and head of real estate of Harwell Campus, said: “Working on the government’s main effort at the forefront of our nation’s fight against Covid-19 was always going to be an exceptionally challenging project.
“Delivering the building almost a year early demanded a united approach. The district council team has enabled construction to move quicker than we ever expected, but this would also not have been possible without the positive relationships established between the talented and dedicated people working across every part of this vital project.”
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