I've just had a meeting with Mark Hunter about the British Aerospace site at Woodford.Mark told me all about the long campaign he has waged, together with fellow Lib Dem Andrew Stunnel from Hazel Grove and also, truth be told, Macclesfield MP Sir Nicholas Winterton, to keep the site going and the workers in jobs - a campaign eventually frustrated by short sighted government insistence to buy a US plane rather than the British alternative.
As a result it is now inevitable that the site will be run down and closed. The buildings (hangars and offices) will in time be developed: we will campaign hard to make sure that this redevelopment is one which serves the community: it must provide jobs and facilities, not just homes for commuters. Local and national politicians have a hard job ahead to make sure that the future is one which is best for the community, not just the one which makes most money for the developers.
The airfield itself is Green belt and is protected. It presents lots of possibilities but - especially in the present economic downturn - there is no immediately apparent use. There are no planning applications in at the moment: we have to wait and see what ideas are offered and ensure that the space is preserved and used sensibly and sensitively.
Mark is clearly an enthusiast - pictures on his office wall, including the Vulcan - are proof of that.
