Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Explaining the £57m reopening row as Ros Jones, Save DSA, Reform and Tories issue statements

It comes after the leader of a campaign to reopen the airport urged the parties to rethink a "reckless" attempt to rescind previously-agreed borrowing for the project as part of ongoing efforts by the local council to reopen DSA.

Mark Chadwick, who runs the Save DSA campaign, has published an open letter to Reform and Tory councillors in Doncaster ahead of a crunch meeting on May 11 where an effort will be made to rescind a £57m borrowing agreement which was approved in November.

But both Reform and the Conservatives have issued responses confirming their positions remain unchanged. Reform says councillors had not seen the controversial terms of the airport lease the council had signed up to when the borrowing was initially approved.

What is the £57m borrowing in question

City of Doncaster Council is currently attempting to reopen the airport, which closed in 2022, via a council-owned company called FlyDoncaster. The council signed a 125-year lease for the land in 2024 with the hope of finding a private operator but has turned to the public sector reopening plan after being unable to secure one.

The borrowing facility was approved by councillors in November by 42 votes to nine as a way of providing upfront spending on the project in advance of £160m devolution funding being delivered.

A council report at the time said borrowing would be needed to start from the 2027/28 financial year, with a peak of borrowing in 2032/33 and interest repayments costing an estimated £39.4m expected until 2049. The interest repayments are accounted for within the expected overall £193m cost of the project – the bulk of which is due to be covered by devolution funding controlled by the office of South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard.

But a subsequent leak of the airport lease to The Yorkshire Post in January revealed a series of controversial clauses councillors and the public had previously been unaware of.

Devolution funding controlled by South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard will not be released until the lease is renegotiated, with no agreement yet confirmed. Mr Coppard’s office has previously said the “complex lease structure” was one of the factors that had “restricted private investor appetite” in the project.

Concerns about break clauses “in favour of the landowner” on achieving passenger number targets above the most optimistic forecasts and “clarifying points in relation to turnover rent” are among the key areas being discussed in renegotiation talks with landowner and previous DSA operator Peel.

The council’s mayoral system structure means it has a ruling Labour mayor and cabinet but 40 out of 55 councillors represent either Reform or the Conservatives. Five out of six Conservatives voted against the borrowing in November, with most of Reform’s 34 councillors backing the deal – but the party has since changed its local leader in the fallout to that decision.

Labour has claimed rescinding the borrowing could “kill” the airport. Both Reform and the Conservatives say they want it to open but with private investors involved and at lower financial risk to the council – leading to the attempt to overturn the previous November decision.

What Save DSA has said

Mark Chadwick, who runs the Save DSA campaign, has written an open letter to Reform and Conservative councillors to rethink the plan.

Mr Chadwick said revoking the loan facility “is not just disappointing, it is reckless”.

He added: “You knew exactly what you were voting for at the time. The loan is there to get the airport open. Simple as that.

"The risks were known. The plan was agreed. The funding was clear. You don’t get to vote something through, let work begin, money be spent, people hired and suddenly pull the plug.

"This idea that private investors are going to come in and somehow replace public funding is simply not true.

“It has already taken over three years to get to this point. So what exactly are you achieving?

"You are not removing the need for public money. You are not reducing risk. You are not improving the deal.

"All you are doing is delaying the project while waiting for investors who will still expect the same public backing anyway.

“If you can approve a plan, start spending money and then reverse it months later, why would any investor, airline or partner take Doncaster seriously?”

He added: "This is about jobs, investment and the future of the area. This is the biggest opportunity of our lifetime to get something for Doncaster. Right now, you are putting all of that at risk.

"Delaying this project now does not save money, it risks wasting far more.

"Right now, this does not look like a better plan. It looks like uncertainty, delay and avoidable risk. You need to rethink this because Doncaster deserves better than this.”

His letter follows Labour mayor Ros Jones stating: “The borrowing decision is critical and if rescinded it will kill the airport project.

“There are roughly 50 people now employed at the airport, working to get it certified and fully reopened as soon as possible.

"Doncaster Sheffield Airport is the largest economic opportunity for a generation, delivering jobs, growth and opportunities for the people of Doncaster and South Yorkshire.

"If Doncaster Reform vote to u-turn the borrowing decision, then it will kill the airport project and the costs will fall on Doncaster Council and local taxpayers to pay for redundancy packages as well as the airport rent and security costs.

“The choice for Reform councillors is simple, either get on board, back the airport and attend the meetings and briefings or you will be forever held responsible for killing the airport project.”

What Reform UK has said

Councillor Jason Charity, deputy leader of Reform UK Doncaster, has written his own open letter in response to Mr Chadwick.

It states the party agrees with Mr Chadwick on wanting the airport to reopen but disagrees on “terms, evidence and governance”.

He said councillors had not seen the lease before the November decision and its detail “changes the financial fundamentals”.

The leaked lease document reveals that in addition to paying £5m a year in base rent, a figure which becomes subject to inflation calculations from 2029, turnover rent is also potentially due to be paid to Peel. It has been set at a figure of 20 per cent of gross turnover in excess of the annual base rent and includes taxpayer-funded grants from local and national government as well as revenue from various airport activities. The wording of the clause is understood to be one of the areas currently being renegotiated with Peel.

The central area of focus for renegotiations is the ‘break points’ in the lease which could allow Peel to terminate the deal should minimum passenger and freight volumes not be met by key dates. The lease currently includes passenger number targets that are higher than the most optimistic scenarios for reopening.

There was also controversy that the lease gave Peel the option of terminating the deal if it did not receive planning approval for hundreds of homes next to the airport. Councillors were not told of the clause in advance of granting planning permission.

Councillor Charity said members were now in a different position to when the £57m borrowing was approved and needed to act to prevent Doncaster suffering the type of financial problems which have caused other councils to declare effective bankruptcies.

He said: "Read end to end, it is a textbook case of a public body failing at a lease negotiation. The mayor kept it from members before the vote (her words, not mine).

"Acting on it now is what councillors must do. The alternative is what brought down Croydon, Thurrock and Woking.”

He said is “unwilling to defend” a structure where Peel receives 20 per cent of revenues.

"The right point to test private appetite is before committing £57m of public borrowing, not after.”

Coun Charity said borrowing does not need to be drawn down now: “A project that cannot survive a financial review months after approval was not financially robust at the time of approval.”

He added: "Reform UK Doncaster’s position is DSA reopens on a structure that holds up to scrutiny, with private capital where it most protects public funds and on a lease that does not begin each year by paying a fifth of revenue to the freeholder.

"That is not anti-airport, that is pro-airport, soberly.”

What the Conservatives have said

A statement from the Conservative councillors and the Doncaster Conservative Federation said Labour’s political decisions have led to the current situation.

It said: “It has taken time for Reform to recognise the error of their original vote but their u-turn on further funding is the correct decision.

"We are now seeing a push to press ahead with a project that carries significant risk, at a cost that will ultimately fall on the taxpayer.

"Many people across Doncaster and the surrounding areas want the airport to reopen and rightly so but it must be done properly.

"That means private investment, experienced operators and those backing it being prepared to carry the financial risk, not simply pass it onto the public.

"The people of Doncaster deserve transparency, realism and decisions based on sound judgment not politics.”

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