Is planning battle taking turn for worse?

AudlemOnline's Aviation Correspondent Avril Foulière reports on a mysterious visit to the area yesterday. She says:

The regular band of plane spotters at Coxbank International Airport (CIA) were delighted yesterday when a Learjet 85 landed – seen here on the apron at CIA.

It was a welcome change from the array of Bryanair Boeing 737s and A320s heading off to small airports a country or two away from their passengers' intended destination.

Intrigued, I immediately contacted the control tower and found the private jet had set out from Palermo, Sicily. Four men, all in dark suits and sunglasses, possibly protection on a sunny Coxbank day, were soon heading out of the airport in a black high-spec Range Rover with tinted windows towards Audlem.

Field

Even more intrigued, I decided to follow at a safe distance and soon spotted the 4X4 parked in a field just outside the Audlem Settlement Boundary and the black-suited figures studying maps and taking measurements with deep concentration. After noting the location carefully, I managed to get away and headed back to my office at the airport without, I think, being spotted.

Later, the four men partook of a meal in the airport's executive lounge before their return journey. The lounge's waiter, Luigi Pappaddele, who naturally wishes to remain anonymous, told me they asked for Spaghetti alla Puttanesca (literally 'Whore's-style Spaghetti') and a popular dish in the deep south of Italy with a sauce flavoured with olives, capers and garlic.

Una scappatoia legale

Luigi, fortunately, overheard snatches of conversations as the Sicilians ate. The phrase 'una scappatoia legale', or legal loophole, came up several times, he noted, as they glanced through what appeared to be Cheshire East planning application documents.

The oldest of the group – seen in our third photo with Luigi on the left describing the Puttanesca sauce to him – also seemed concerned about possible competition if they were to invest locally in a project, and the name Gladman cropped up at least once, Luigi confided. The youngest of the group even asked if the normal warnings should be delivered that night and said he could head immediately to an abattoir in nearby Sound that might be able to provide the necessary goods.

Moral dilemma

The question is, I ask myself, should the Congleton company be warned. Or would they simply think I was making a Mount Etna out of a molehill. Or would they even care: after all if you set out on a strategy to make yourself possibly the most unpopular people in rural England, trouble is always likely. Except this particular group at Coxbank International were hardly your typical mild-mannered English countryfolk.

Your thoughts on this moral dilemma would be appreciated. The Chatbox awaits.

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