Board papers raise more questions over Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening plans
The move by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to buy Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) and the adjacent Innovation Quarter employment land is a bold one.
As previously acknowledged, it removes a major barrier to the reopening of the airport, the controversial lease agreement with previous operator and landowner Peel Group.
But the board papers published after the press conference heralding the agreement to acquire the freehold for DSA, have raised further red flags over the project.
The aim is to restart passenger flights by spring 2028. Yet the board papers warn of the prospect of a multi-year delay before commercial airlines begin to use the airport in a significant way.
Local leaders would be well advised to eschew boosterism and ensure their approach is grounded in reality. The public will not be fooled by lip service or contrived public displays.
This newspaper has long called for transparency around the project. With so much taxpayer money at stake, those behind the reopening plans have an obligation to be honest with the public, every step of the way.
Which begs the question, why was so much false confidence projected by local leaders over the controversial turnover rent clause. Especially as it now transpires that the “punitive” clause, allowing 20 per cent of DSA’s annual turnover to be paid towards the owner of the land, including taxpayer-funded grants, was set to cost around £60m, but was not budgeted for in plans to reopen the airport.
Credit must go to City of Doncaster Council for keeping the project alive and now the turnover rent clause issue is redundant but given the long road ahead for DSA, questions need to be answered as to the journey that has been taken to get to this point.