Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Legal challenge would delay search for private sector investment, says Oliver Coppard
Any legal challenge to the use of taxpayer cash for reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport would delay efforts to secure private investment in the project, South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard said.
City of Doncaster Council intends to loan more than £128m to a newly-formed council-owned company called FlyDoncaster at low interest rates as a key part of its reopening strategy.
Money is chiefly due to come from the council’s share of devolution funding to 2050 which is controlled by Mr Coppard’s office. But the council also intends to borrow £57m itself so project spending can be frontloaded in advance of annual instalments of the devolution funding being delivered.
Other regional airports have previously expressed concerns about the “proportionality” of the subsidy plan for FlyDoncaster.
On November 27, councillors on the Reform-dominated local authority voted in favour of the £57m borrowing following a public commitment by Labour Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones to “soft market test” for private sector investment within six months of securing airspace for DSA.
Council chief executive Damian Allen had previously indicated he anticipated substantial private investor interest in DSA once the reopened site is turning a profit, which is not forecast until the mid-2030s.
The council has three months from the November 27 vote to publish details of its planned subsidy to FlyDoncaster, with interested parties then having a further month to submit a legal challenge.
A similar challenge by Bristol Airport against the Welsh Government providing a £205m subsidy to the publicly-owned Cardiff Airport was registered in June but won’t be heard until February.
When asked by The Yorkshire Post when he anticipates private investment coming in, Mr Coppard said the timeline would be altered if a legal challenge occurs.
“I think it needs to come when the time is right,” he said. "Frankly, there are legal cases that could be brought. I don’t want to say it should be six months because if we have a legal case that we have to go through then clearly that will delay it. It has to come in at the most appropriate time.
“We’ve always said we are really open to private sector investment but it has to be the right private sector investment. We are not going to simply jump at the first sign of private sector investment and put this project at risk and put jobs and opportunities at risk.
“If there is good, patient, long-term capital out there that wants to invest in South Yorkshire in any form but certainly the airport, then we will always be open to that conversation. But it has to be right for us and right for them too.”
Rules surrounding the planned FlyDoncaster grant are governed by the Subsidy Control Act 2023, recently introduced by the Government after Brexit – making it a relatively untested area of law.
Mr Coppard said officials in South Yorkshire are “confident” in their legal position. “We are confident that the work we have done has been properly done, has been thorough and we’re hopeful that therefore we are in a very good place. We can never be 100 per cent confident because it is a legal process and people will test the law but we’ve done everything we can to put ourselves in the best possible position.”
Earlier this year, Mr Coppard’s office said a legal challenge would be a “critical risk” to the DSA project. But it said providing such funding falls within the mayor’s powers to promote economic development and regeneration.
Last month, Leeds Bradford Airport chief executive Vincent Hodder said he would have a “real problem” with the use of taxpayer money to entice airlines to move to DSA.
The council has previously said that it believed any “discounts or incentives” offered to airlines would comply with legal rules. It has also said it would “robustly defend” any legal challenge.