"Utter twaddle": Richard Tice hits out at Labour over Doncaster Sheffield Airport purchase claim
Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has insisted a purchase of Doncaster Sheffield Airport “could be done quickly” with a combination of “political will and property nous”.
Mr Tice revealed earlier this week that Reform would acquire Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s land – by compulsory purchase order (CPO) if necessary – as an alternative plan to the current proposal being pursued by Labour’s political leaders in South Yorkshire.
City of Doncaster Council signed a 125-year lease for use of DSA in 2024 and after failing to secure a private operator, is attempting to reopen the site itself via a council-owned company called FlyDoncaster.
Mr Tice’s proposal has been strongly criticsed by Labour, with South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard saying it would take years to pursue through the courts and if successful “would result in an inevitable and significant bill for the taxpayer”.
Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones said earlier this year that Peel had rejected a previous attempt to buy the airport freehold. She said: “Any Compulsory Purchase Order would have been strongly challenged, taken years, with no guarantee of success and paying compensation costs in the eventuality of CPO being refused. The offer of a lease also effectively killed off any chance of a successful CPO.”
Doncaster Labour sources have subsequently told The Yorkshire Post that a CPO process for the around 800 acres of land covered by the DSA lease could cost above £500m, based on estimated land value and compensation. Mr Tice described this as “utter twaddle”.
Reform says it has an estimated valuation for the land but does not want to reveal it in public in the event of potential negotiations. It said its plan would be paid for using money is currently due to go on lease repayments.
A Reform source highlighted that a public sector purchase of Teesside Airport agreed with Peel in 2019 and involving 800 acres of land was made for £40m.
In response to the £500m claim, Mr Tice said: “This is utter twaddle and shows how clueless Labour are, with no idea how property and CPO works. They are scaremongering because Reform have exposed their failures. A CPO could be done quickly for the airport land based on existing airport use at a fraction of that number.
"Labour have probably stupidly included all the development land, which Peel would retain under an airport CPO. All that is required is political will and property nous, but this seems to be lacking.”
Earlier this week Mr Tice rejected an offer by Mayor Jones to accelerate the search for private investors in exchange for Reform dropping its attempt to cancel previously-agreed borrowing for the project.
Under the November funding agreement for the £57m loan, the council intends to start a soft market test for private sector investment within six months of gaining relevant certifications for reopening the airport – which are expected to be received next year.
But Mayor Jones said on Thursday she was now willing to “revisit this” and change the timetable to start the process “as soon as possible”. Mr Tice refused, saying there was “no prospect” of securing a private investor under the current arrangements.
A new council report said it has previously been recommended FlyDoncaster seeks private investment only “once substantial risks have been mitigated”.
The report said financial advisers had said “at this stage of the programme, the level of risk remains too high to secure investment on preferential terms”. It added: “Advisers indicated that the optimal point would be at a later stage, once key risks have been mitigated and operations have commenced.”