Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Reform UK, Conservatives call Doncaster Council EGM after leak of lease
Reform UK and Conservative councillors have called for an extraordinary general meeting of the City of Doncaster Council, following the leak of the Doncaster Sheffield Airport lease.
The cross-party effort for a “debate” on the issue is “a bid to force transparency” over the airport.
Councillor Craig Ward, the new leader of the Reform UK group, said: “The issue here is simple: there is a lease governing the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport and councillors and the public have not been allowed to see its full contents.
“Recent reporting has revealed details which raise serious questions about what has been agreed, yet opposition councillors have repeatedly asked for access to the lease and still have not been provided with it in full.”
Both parties stress they support the reopening of the airport, but major decisions must have “proper scrutiny”.
Cllr Steve Cox, leader of the Conservative group on Doncaster Council, said: “Conservative councillors have supported this request because Full Council must be able to ensure the airport lease and the decisions surrounding it are thoroughly investigated in an open forum.
“Neither Conservative nor Reform councillors were made aware of the provisions now being reported, despite repeated requests to see the lease. That situation cannot continue if we are to maintain public confidence in how major decisions are handled.”
In recent weeks, the lease agreed between Doncaster Council and the airport’s landowners, the Peel Group, was leaked to the press.
It included agreements that Peel would receive 20 per cent of the site’s gross turnover, including grants from local and national government.
Additionally, the lease included a break clause allowing Peel to end the agreement with just six months’ notice, if planning permission was not granted for housing developments on a site neighbouring DSA.
Further clauses included a rule that Doncaster Council could not object to the planning applications, approved in November 2025, in its capacity as the lease tenant, but the lease stipulated this would not “fetter” the council’s obligations as the local planning authority.
The most recent clause to be reported by journalists is a cap on electricity usage on site to 1MVA, which critics have said will not be enough long term.
A City of Doncaster Council spokesperson said: “A commercial lease agreement, as we have previously stated, is not a static situation as parts of it could be further discussed and amended. Conversations with the landowner Peel are continuing and we will be updating the lease with them as we are required to as part of our responsibilities under our grant agreement with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
“Whilst we do appreciate the interest in the lease which is confidential and we cannot release publicly, we continue to work with our legal and financial advisers on various aspects in the lease to ensure that as a council we follow the required laws and regulations and due diligence tests. Leases and contracts do change subject to further negotiations and this will no doubt be the case with the airport.
“As we have previously explained, the planning committee is quasi-judicial and separate from other council business. It considers planning applications based upon their individual merits and determines whether planning permission is granted or not.
“CDC remains committed to progressing the essential elements required to reopen the airport, including site readiness, as quickly as possible.”
“Reopening DSA is a multi-million-pound investment to deliver jobs, economic growth and opportunities for the residents and businesses of Doncaster and as such commercial confidentiality is to be expected.”
Doncaster Council has repeatedly stressed the lease, signed by senior officials in March 2024, is being renegotiated, as required by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
In September 2025, SYMCA agreed the £160million in gainshare funding allocated to reopening the airport would not be released until certain aspects of the lease were renegotiated.
Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “The programme to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport has gone through considerable due diligence and scrutiny over the past three years.
What has the leaked lease revealed about Doncaster Council's agreement with Peel?
- Termination clause allowing Peel, the landowner, the end the lease if planning permission was not granted for developments next to DSA. There applications were approved in November 2025 and there is no suggestion this would not have happened without the lease agreement.
- Restriction stating Doncaster Council could not object to the planning applications in the above termination clause in its capacity as the lease tenant. However, the lease stated this would not “fetter” the council’s obligations as the local planning authority.
- Peel to be paid a £5m per year base rent and to receive 20 per cent of gross turnover generated at the site - including grants from local and national government.
- Electricity use on site to be limited to 1MVA. DSA reportedly operated with this cap before 2022, however, critics suggest this will not be enough long term.
“Reopening DSA is a multi-million-pound investment to deliver jobs, economic growth and opportunities for the residents and businesses of Doncaster and as such commercial confidentiality is to be expected.
“There are thousands of pages of reports that have gone through the decision-making process of the council and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. It is becoming increasingly apparent that both Reform and Conservative councillors have not read these documents and not turned up to briefing sessions where information can be explained to them, and where they can get their questions answered.
“Since the last full council meeting all members have been offered a full unredacted copy of the lease under the usual arrangements for sharing commercially confidential information in line with the 1972 Local Government Act. This is standard practice and is not unreasonable. It is my understanding that no Reform or Conservative councillors have thus far taken up the opportunity to have a full unredacted copy of the lease or the business case.”
Opposition councillors have said they feel it is important the EGM is held before the next meeting of full council on February 26, 2026, when members will be asked to agree a budget for the 2026/27 financial year.