The reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport can be “catalytic” for the regional economy, a local business leader has said as he welcomed councillors pushing ahead with funding for the reopening project.

Dan Fell MBE, chief executive of Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, was in attendance as councillors in Doncaster reaffirmed their backing for a £57m loan for the project at a meeting on Monday.

Reform councillors had proposed a motion calling for the loan, which was originally approved in November, to be rescinded on the grounds the original vote was made before the emergence of new information about controversial clauses within the airport lease agreement.

But Reform changed its position in the meeting and opted not to cancel the loan but instead insisted on a new series of scrutiny measures for the project.

Dan Fell has welcomed funding plans for Doncaster Sheffield Airport being reconfirmed.

placeholder image — Dan Fell has welcomed funding plans for Doncaster Sheffield Airport being reconfirmed.

It came after Labour warned cancelling the loan would “kill” the reopening, while Doncaster Chamber organised a letter from 80 local businesses urging Reform not to rescind the funding.

Mr Fell told The Yorkshire Post that the right outcome had been reached by councillors.

He said: “I’m really pleased with the outcome for two reasons. Firstly, we are full steam ahead for the opening of the airport. In a time where the economy is really struggling we need the confidence and stimulus an airport can create.

“That will be really appreciated and supported by the business community. Secondly, I actually welcome the extra challenge and scrutiny that was tabled today. Scrutiny should make projects stronger and strengthen business cases and that will make the airport project more resilient in the fullness of time.

“There are two good outcomes there.”

He added: “No one is putting all this effort into reopening the failing airport, the airport that closed its doors in 2022. We don’t want that back. What we want is the vision articulated 20-odd years ago - a proper airport servicing two to three million passengers a year with proper freight operations and so forth.

“Airports can be absolutely catalytic for the economy. Whether that is businesses directly related or in the supply chain or retail, leisure and hospitality businesses that benefit from the potential influx of tourism to South Yorkshire, there are so many parts of the economy that will benefit from the airport.”

Reform’s deputy group leader Jason Charity denied Labour claims that his party’s actions had undermined business confidence in the DSA project.

Speaking after Monday’s meeting, He said: “We speak to a range of business stakeholders and I don’t think the uncertainty has been what Labour suggest. Even if there has been some level of uncertainty the key thing is making sure we have a viable project that sees this city and borough into the future. A small bit of uncertainty to make sure we land with a sensible set of safeguards for me is a price worth paying.

“There was a lot of talk today about audit and scrutiny and the lack of it in November. We’re hoping today is a bit of a reset.

“I’m the chair of audit, my colleague Councillor Karl Hughes is chair of scrutiny. They are all really key and they are key because good scrutiny means you are more likely to succeed rather than fail in projects.

"We have to scrutinise because we want DSA to be a success but we don’t want to increase council tax in the future if anything goes wrong.”