Time short for airport lease negotiations - claim

Time for council officials to renegotiate the Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) lease is running short and the project is predicted to "run out of money" in September, it has been claimed.

The details emerged during a private briefing for councillors on 1 July, after which sources said they had been told "renegotiation of the lease is not complete".

They also said the lease needed to be renegotiated by Doncaster Council by the time the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Board meets in September or "it's over, basically".

A City of Doncaster Council spokesperson said: "We do not comment on potential misinterpretations of confidential briefings with councillors."

However, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the council declined to refute or deny any of the information when given the opportunity to do so.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the briefing also told the LDRS it was an accurate account of what was shared with councillors.

Doncaster Council has been renegotiating the lease with site owner Peel since last September, when SYMCA stated that clauses in the original lease deemed "favourable to the landowner" must be redone before £160m of funding for the project could be released.

In February 2026, Doncaster's elected mayor Ros Jones said renegotiations were "almost complete".

Meanwhile, Oliver Coppard, South Yorkshire's elected mayor, said they had "made progress" in June.

But details of the renegotiation over DSA remain secret due to "commercial sensitivity".

The plan to reopen the airport has so far been funded from various SYMCA government grants and pots.

A £57m loan to support the reopening has not yet been drawn down by the authority, as it must wait for the £160m to be released by SYMCA.

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