Reform UK Councillors Back Down In Row Over Doncaster Airport Loan

Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s reopening is back on track after Reform UK councillors stepped back from a confrontation that threatened to scupper the £57 million loan funding the project.

At an extraordinary meeting of the City of Doncaster Council on Monday 11 May, councillors voted 45 to six in favour of keeping the loan in place. A Reform motion that originally sought to rescind the November 2025 borrowing decision was amended at the last minute, with a deal struck between the party and Labour Mayor Ros Jones.

Under the agreement, Reform — the largest party on the council — gets to see any renegotiated lease between the council and landowners the Peel Group before final approval. In return, the loan deal stays in place and the airport’s reopening plans can proceed.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed in 2022. The site’s overall reopening cost is estimated at £193 million, with £160 million approved by South Yorkshire council leaders and regional mayor Oliver Coppard last September. The £57 million bridging loan covers upfront costs until Fly Doncaster, the company set up to run the site, starts turning a profit. According to the council, the operation is now expected to make a loss for nine years rather than the previously estimated five.

Mayor Ros Jones described the Reform threat to pull the loan as a “political stunt.” Speaking ahead of the meeting, she said: “They’ve had all the information there and just not read it. It’s delayed work going on for negotiations for two months.”

Reform leader Cllr Craig Ward said his party had “sought to deliver tighter oversight, scrutiny, and governance of the Airport project — conditions that the Labour administration had failed to put in place.” He added: “Proper financial accountability, transparency, and scrutiny should have been there from the very beginning when dealing with hundreds of millions of pounds of public money.”

The party’s deputy leader in Westminster, Richard Tice MP, was involved in the negotiations behind the scenes. Cllr Jason Charity, Reform UK Doncaster’s deputy leader, later told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the threat to cancel the loan was intended to “spur the City of Doncaster Council into negotiating with the party” and that Reform never genuinely intended to scrap the borrowing.

Behind the politics is a real concern about the original lease deal. Reporting by The Yorkshire Post uncovered clauses that included giving up 20% of the airport’s turnover above annual base rent payments to Peel — including 20% of taxpayer-funded grants. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has since ruled the lease must be renegotiated.

For Doncaster, the practical upshot is that the airport reopening is moving forward. For taxi and private hire drivers in South Yorkshire, that’s good news — a reopened DSA will mean fresh demand for airport runs, more late-night and early-morning work, and another commercial passenger hub on the regional map. The airport previously generated significant traffic for local cab firms before it closed.

The airport previously generated significant traffic for local cab firms before it closed. If you live in and around Doncaster and are travelling to any UK airport in the meantime, consider DM Airport Transfers for a reliable, professional service while the local hub prepares for take-off.

Reform UK is enthusiastic about reopening, according to a post-meeting statement from Richard Tice. Mayor Jones is now free to negotiate the renegotiated lease. The £57m loan stays in place. The site is back on course for take-off.

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