Doncaster Sheffield Airport: City's Reform UK leader backs re-opening
The leader of Reform UK on City of Doncaster Council has given his backing to the re-opening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, saying: “I want that airport open – I love it.”
Coun Guy Aston has pledged his party’s support for DSA and said councillors will work to see the airport take-off again – but has warned the scheme is not without risks.
In an interview with Save DSA podcast It's Not Terminal, said: “Citizens of Doncaster, I want that airport open. I love it. I used it.
"And my wife has said, don't care where we're going, but the first few flights out, we'll be on one."
He added: “If we don't all work together, it's probably not going to open.
"It is a huge project. It's an enormous project for Doncaster, probably one of the biggest it has ever taken on.
"And it encompasses so much.
"So it has to be a joint venture across Doncaster to make it work.
"It's not just the airport – its the South Yorkshire Airport City.
"And that's a crucial part of it, because it will create jobs, it will bring revenues into the council, which is always desperately needed.”
Speaking of the closure in 2022, Coun Aston said: “I do remember it happening, and thinking how sad it was, because I was a fairly regular flyer from Doncaster Airport, and I was always really proud of standing in the queue anywhere sort of across the Mediterranean, looking up and or in Greece and seeing Doncaster on the list.
"I thought we're on the map, and the airport coming under review and obviously the closure removed that. I think it sort of belittled the town quite a lot. It was sad, it was something we had to be proud of, and it was now gone.”
Talking about scrutinising the project, Coun Aston said: “There is no doubt about that it's always going to have risk.
"We need to make sure, on behalf of the people of Doncaster, that the risk is minimised as far as possible.
"Because if this was to go belly up, God forbid, if it was to go belly up, given Doncaster is, if you like, the only investor, it is the council taking on the loans and making the financial commitments, it will be a disaster for Doncaster.
"So it is part of our duty to scrutinise it.
"And it's not to say we don't want it or we're going to sink it. It is our duty to check its sound. It probably will be.
"At the moment, we are awaiting what I will call a bundle of facts, figures, data, business plan. And then we will put the overview and scrutiny management committee and the audit committees will pile in onto it to check it through, looking for risk.
"There will be risk. Some risk is manageable. We just want to be sure on behalf of the people of Doncaster that the risk level is fine.
"It's not a case of not wanting the airport. It's a case of making sure it really is going to work.”
"On behalf of the people at Doncaster, we have a duty to do that.
"So we can turn around and say, let's go.You know, there are risks, but you always get them.
"Any major project will have risks. None of them are probably project threatening.
"Reform would love to see that airport. We would love to see nothing more than a prosperous airport and even more so an airport city.”
You can listen to the interview in full HERE