Greens question Doncaster Sheffield Airport spending as lease negotiations continue

Doncaster Green Party has called on Labour and Reform to "come clean" about the financial risk facing the city, after the Mayor declined to give an update on the airport lease negotiations this week - while figures obtained by the party show the Council has already spent £24.4m on the reopening project.

Asked about the renegotiation, the Mayor said a further update would be provided at the appropriate time.

In February she said the negotiations with the Peel Group were "almost complete". They are still not done, and until they are the £160m of South Yorkshire funding the project depends on cannot be released.

The Freedom of Information response shows total spending of £24.4m up to 30 June 2026, of which £8.3m came from the Council's own budgets. The figures exclude the cost of staff time redirected to the project.

The last published estimate of what it would cost Doncaster if the programme ended was £48.6m up to 2031, set out in a May report to FullCouncil.

That report also stated the South Yorkshire funding could not be used to meet those costs. No updated figure has been published since, despite further spending and new contract commitments in the months that followed.

Doncaster Green Party co-chair Tony Nicholson said: "Labour and Reform are putting Doncaster's long-term financial future at risk by investing so heavily in an airport that failed commercially just four years ago.

“Six months ago residents were told the lease deal was almost done. It still isn't, and millions more have gone out of the door while everyonewaits.

"Given the level of public investment and public interest, scrutiny is essential. The final terms of the lease with the Peel Group should be made public.

“Instead of straight answers, residents are watching Labour and Reform line up to blame each other if this fails. Doncaster's future is too important to be a political football.

"If this project doesn't get going, it is Doncaster taxpayers who will pick up the bill - not the Peel Group, and not the private partners. The last figure the Council published was £48.6m. Nobody has told residents what it is today.

"Doncaster residents deserve to know if Labour and Reform are gambling with our future, our finances, and the local public services we rely on."

The Council declined to answer the Green Party's question about how the financial risk would be shared with private partners. The party is asking the Council to reconsider.