If there is thought to be any substance in the suggestion that the seeds of revolutions are sown behind closed doors in quiet country retreats, then future College historians might try to cite the rector's residential weekend away with heads of departments at ICL's Hedsor House, at the end of January, as evidence that there is substance in the thought.
The discussions ranged over a variety of topics, but there were two in particular which produced a unanimity of view. One - not surprisingly - was a general opposition to the concept of 'top-up' fees. The other - much more surprisingly perhaps, given its emotive nature - was the united view taken of 'man's best friend' - no, not the dog, but the car!
The debate was sparked off by the director of estates' presentation 'Campus 2007', a slide show of the College estate old and new, showing the buildings of yesteryear, the current ones, and the possibilities for the future, the latter being indicated by both what had been achieved by institutions elsewhere and illustrations from our own master plan architects.
What particularly excited everyone's imagination was the vision of Imperial College Road, and large parts of the campus, entirely free of cars. The concept of a tree-lined and grassed pedestrian piazza and the environmental pleasure this could bring to the working lives of the 10,000 or so souls who come here everyday, so overwhelmed all participants that 'the car must go' policy emerged firmly, clearly and almost painlessly. The improvement to the campus ambience already arising from the recent car parking restrictions was noted, together with an acceptance that this had now set the ball rolling for a fresh consideration of the place of the car in the College precinct.
Obviously car parking space in an organisation the size of the College will always be inevitable, but the thought that cars could be largely banished to an underground car park under Dalby Court or elsewhere on the site seemed particularly attractive. The Estates Division is now charged with developing a business plan for such a concept, on the clear understanding that this would inevitably involve a commercial approach, with both College users and externals paying for the privilege of parking on the College site. Such a transformation both of practice and principle would indeed be a revolution!
View by Peter Mee, registrar and clerk to the governors.
(c) Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, 1995
Last Revised: 20 February 1996