Dewdrop.
You're right about the racecourse development. There was a plan to put a GA field on it at one time, but I notice that didn't feature in the news item I saw about it. The site for the racing isn't on the Barton airfield site though. I think the locals were rather concerned by the last lot of plans to 'improve' Barton because the buildings proposed didn't seem to fit in with what Barton is/does, and a 'hidden agenda' was suspected. It must be a real pain for anyone at Barton at the moment because these rumours seem to surface about every few months! Goodness knows the availability of GA facilities in the NW is bad enough as it is without the chance that Barton could close! I do hope this is another groundless rumour.
Spiney