'Negotiations remain ongoing': Reform make statement ahead of Doncaster Sheffield Airport vote

The Doncaster Reform group has said “negotiations remain ongoing” ahead of Monday’s crunch vote on Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

In an extraordinary council meeting on 11 May, councillors will decide to revoke a £57m loan, which has been used to front-load the funding to reopen DSA.

The Reform and Conservative groups called the emergency meeting after claiming that the borrowing was approved in November “without full material facts” about the lease, signed with landowners Peel in 2024.

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.

Reform councillors have put forward a motion to rescind the loan, however in a Facebook post, the party said “negotiations continue on DSA”.

Local party members met with deputy leader Richard Tice to discuss the emergency meeting on Tuesday night.

Mr Tice has previously told this paper that a future Reform government would buy the land off Peel using a compulsory purchase order (CPO).

In a statement, Reform Doncaster said: “Reform councillors were all agreed that they support the reopening of DSA — but not at any cost, and not without proper scrutiny of the financial and legal arrangements involved.

“Negotiations remain ongoing. Reform says it will continue pressing for openness, accountability, and a solution that secures the airport’s future while protecting the public purse.”

An official council report ahead of the vote said cancelling the project reopening project by revoking the loan would cost almost £50m and plunge Doncaster Council into financial crisis.

It said that “alternative funding would need to be identified urgently, and failure to do so would increase the risk” of the council having to issue a Section 114 notice - which effectively means admitting bankruptcy.

Cancelling the loan would also push back the target for commercial flights to start at Easter 2028 by between six months to a year, even if other funds were found.

Doncaster’s directly elected mayor, Labour’s Ros Jones, who runs the executive, has warned that this would “kill” the project.

Since the loan was approved, the reopening has proceeded at pace with a number of key positions filled and the first jet, an oil spill response aircraft, landed last week.

However, the £160m in devolved funding from South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, which was supposed to fund the project and cover the loan, is currently in limbo.

This will not be released until certain aspects of the lease with Peel Group are renegotiated, with proceedings currently “on hold”, according to the report.

This comes as the assistant chief executive of a neighbouring local authority has expressed concerns over the “complex” reopening plans.

The assistant chief executive of a neighbouring local authority has expressed concerns over the “complex” reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA).

Michael Wildman, the executive director for corporate resources and statutory Section 151 officer for Bassetlaw District Council, revealed in a public LinkedIn comment that he views the “financial exposure” to Doncaster Council is a “key risk”.

Mr Wildman said the airport is feasible “in principle,” thanks to the “site, infrastructure and regional backing”.

He added: “However delivering a viable airport operation after closure is materially more complex than maintaining an existing one.

“Significant council borrowing used to bridge early stage costs depends on future demand materialising as projected. The project remains highly sensitive to passenger numbers and revenue assumptions… which gives grounds for uncertainty especially when benchmarked against historic performance in its early operation.”

Mr Wildman said the passenger and revenue projections were based on “scenario modelling” rather than “due diligence tied to secured airline agreements etc”.

In March 2026, Doncaster Council slashed its passenger projections from 2.5million-per-year after a decade of operation, to 1.1m-per-year.

Before it closed in 2022, DSA often did less than 1m passengers in each year of its operation. However, at its peak in 2019, it is reported that over 1.3m passengers traveled through the airport.

A spokesperson for Bassetlaw District Council said: “Mr Wildman’s social media post was made in a personal capacity as a local taxpayer living within the City of Doncaster Council area.

“Bassetlaw District Council’s position remains that Doncaster Sheffield Airport is a valuable regional asset that should be protected for our communities.”