Barton Happening.................
Or not happenings, as the case may be.
Just that March 2005 sees the expiration of the airfield lease that LAC has with Peel Holdings /Manchester Ship Canal Co. The Aero Club has leased the land continuously since shortly after the Second World war, originally from Manchester City Council and latterly Peel.
In days gone by the new lease was sown up well in advance of the deadline. Manchester City Estates and Valuation Office administered it in typical town hall style so things proceeded at a dignified pace but always with the same out come. Each lease was 14 years long but hampered by a short redevelopment break clause that blighted investment.
The club newsletters have recently painted an optimistic picture of the future suggesting Peel would be happy for the club to continue running the show but on Peels behalf.
This hasn’t stopped a number of aircraft departing and others being put up for sale.
Rumours are now starting to circulate that things may be going wrong. I sincerely hope not. But the absence of any announcement of agreement on new terms for a lease are bound to be unsettling.
Does anyone have the inside track on this? Shaggy, Poet P, Cooperman, anyone?
Sir George Cayley