Doncaster Sheffield Airport: South Yorkshire officials due to meet Peel representatives to discuss airport

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard and Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher will both meet with members of the organisation on Tuesday (Oct 11). The MP highlighted, though, that Peel CEO John Whittaker will not be in attendance.

It comes after it was announced last month that Peel Group, who own Doncaster Sheffield Airport, will be shutting it down from 31 October. Since the announcement, local officials and organisations have tried to use powers to reverse the decision.

Labour MPs Ed Miliband and Dame Rosie Winterton wrote to the Transport Secretary last week calling on her to use the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to keep the airprot open due to the vital operations that take place there.

In a controversial interview, the Secretary said that the negotiations lie between Peel Group and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), leading to criticisms from people including Doncaster’s Mayor Ros Jones and the GMB trade union.

Nick Fletcher MP and Mayor Oliver Coppard have been in the spotlight due to public disagreements about the airport over social media.

On Saturday, Fletcher criticised the Mayor for calling on the government to act, saying: “Coppard holds the devolved powers. Nobody else.”

In response, the Mayor said: “It’s deeply disappointing to see you attempt to mislead people in our community. I’m so deeply sorry that you are choosing to defend the utterly dismal lack of action from your colleagues in government rather than standing on the side of our community.”