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Post by flyer on Jun 30, 2023 17:57:11 GMT
Joint statement on our efforts to #saveDSA SAVE Doncaster Sheffield Airport As part of City of Doncaster Council preparations for a potential lease of the former Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) site from owners Peel, it has launched a search to find an investor/operator for the airport. The council has gone out to the market that specialises in this sector ranging from investors with the capital to invest in the airport to aviation experts who have the experience and technical knowledge of running an airport to find the support it needs if the lease is agreed. The council is continuing its negotiations with Peel in the meantime. This is an extremely positive step to deliver a successful future for the airport. We share this determination, and all believe an airport site of this size and calibre, even now closed, is an attractive proposition to the aviation industry and early feedback in this investor search seems to reflect our collective view. This complex piece of work is of course commercially confidential so there are no further details that can be shared. This initiative will continue into the summer and an update will be given when there is more to say and at the appropriate time. We are hopeful that this initiative will ultimately reopen the airport. However, we are realistic that this is a complex undertaking and there are no guarantees. The council is still prepared to carry out a Compulsory Purchase Order for the site as an ultimate backstop if either a direct sale by Peel to a party that has shown previous interest or a lease to the council do not transpire. #doncasterisgreat #saveDSA The investor search begins.. In previous updates she's said they had investor/operator interest!! CPO not being progressed at this time and talks about lease continue at snails pace into the 9th month. They really are floundering.
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Post by pug on Jun 30, 2023 18:18:46 GMT
Joint statement on our efforts to #saveDSA SAVE Doncaster Sheffield Airport As part of City of Doncaster Council preparations for a potential lease of the former Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) site from owners Peel, it has launched a search to find an investor/operator for the airport. The council has gone out to the market that specialises in this sector ranging from investors with the capital to invest in the airport to aviation experts who have the experience and technical knowledge of running an airport to find the support it needs if the lease is agreed. The council is continuing its negotiations with Peel in the meantime. This is an extremely positive step to deliver a successful future for the airport. We share this determination, and all believe an airport site of this size and calibre, even now closed, is an attractive proposition to the aviation industry and early feedback in this investor search seems to reflect our collective view. This complex piece of work is of course commercially confidential so there are no further details that can be shared. This initiative will continue into the summer and an update will be given when there is more to say and at the appropriate time. We are hopeful that this initiative will ultimately reopen the airport. However, we are realistic that this is a complex undertaking and there are no guarantees. The council is still prepared to carry out a Compulsory Purchase Order for the site as an ultimate backstop if either a direct sale by Peel to a party that has shown previous interest or a lease to the council do not transpire. #doncasterisgreat #saveDSA The investor search begins.. In previous updates she's said they had investor/operator interest!! CPO not being progressed at this time and talks about lease continue at snails pace into the 9th month. They really are floundering. The more these are released the more it appears that this is no more than showboating to the electorate. Are they dealing with a bunch of vulture capitalists looking to make a quick buck out of an authority that are clearly prepared to pay for it?
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Post by flyer on Jun 30, 2023 19:36:17 GMT
In previous updates she's said they had investor/operator interest!! CPO not being progressed at this time and talks about lease continue at snails pace into the 9th month. They really are floundering. The more these are released the more it appears that this is no more than showboating to the electorate. Are they dealing with a bunch of vulture capitalists looking to make a quick buck out of an authority that are clearly prepared to pay for it? I'm sure Peel want to keep their land and the lease offer is about wrong-footing the threat of CPO. After 8 months it's just not credible to believe that serious negotiations are taking place. Regular contact, exchange of proposals etc maybe but nothing like a "let's get this done" approach from two committed parties. Meanwhile significant amount of public money being spent by the Council in pursuit of a failed airport based on nothing more than the belief expressed by the Mayor that DSA " could and should be a success."
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Post by pug on Jun 30, 2023 19:58:27 GMT
The more these are released the more it appears that this is no more than showboating to the electorate. Are they dealing with a bunch of vulture capitalists looking to make a quick buck out of an authority that are clearly prepared to pay for it? I'm sure Peel want to keep their land and the lease offer is about wrong-footing the threat of CPO. After 8 months it's just not credible to believe that serious negotiations are taking place. Regular contact, exchange of proposals etc maybe but nothing like a "let's get this done" approach from two committed parties. Meanwhile significant amount of public money being spent by the Council in pursuit of a failed airport based on nothing more than the belief expressed by the Mayor that DSA " could and should be a success." As I’ve said on the forums4airports, Aviation tends to attract chancers and those prepared to exploit. With the Mayor laying all the cards on the table proclaiming the airport to be viable, of course they are going to attract interest. Think of the £££ signs. I fully expect that for Peel to get to the table, let alone take anything seriously there would have to be an experienced operator with significant influence and a track record of success. Otherwise, they’ll see through it and pull the rug with the inevitable outcome of Peel being called sheisters. I do think they’d be open to advanced discussion if there was a genuinely interested party with the credentials as it’s in their interests for the land ti be used for the most fruitful venture.
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Post by pug on Sept 12, 2023 16:20:01 GMT
𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥’𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝.
Next week, City of Doncaster Council (CDC) Cabinet will hear updates on several strands of work looking at the viability of a reopened airport, its economic and growth potential as well as its investment opportunities.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has the potential to be successfully reopened and offer a range of positives including thousands of jobs in aviation, leisure and retail for the City of Doncaster and South Yorkshire.
Detailed assessments of the financial, business and investment calibre of what is now known as South Yorkshire Airport City – the programme which aims to reopen the airport – show that:
The airport has the potential to be successfully reopened and could be profitable within five years of reopening It could attract up to two million passengers a year within a decade, which is considerably higher than the annual passenger numbers achieved prior to its closure It could bring almost 5,000 direct jobs as well as creating up to 11,500 jobs in the wider economy The net economic benefits of reopening the airport could be up to £1.5 billion within the first three decades of operating Reopening the airport offers the most favourable balance between economic cost and benefit and is the preferred option A series of meetings have taken place between CDC and the current landowners, to acquire a lease of DSA. In addition, the council will be making arrangements to source an operator to run and develop the site. This process would take several months to complete and aims to be concluded by Spring 2024.
Informally, the council began this process over the summer to run the airport if the lease is agreed. The market test showed that there was strong interest from multiple parties. Part of these deliberations will include discussions on costs associated with getting the airport reopened and operational again.
The report notes that the council has also been preparing a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to regain the site as an option of last resort if a lease is not agreed. Any CPO process would require lease negotiations to have been fully explored and exhausted first before being able to progress with a CPO.
The extra-ordinary meeting has been called for September 20 where Cabinet will be asked to note the work to date and support the relevant approvals required to progress the programme of works necessary to re-open our airport.
Mayor Ros Jones said: “Saving the airport is critically important for Doncaster and South Yorkshire. I know the amount of support there is in our city and across the region. I am looking forward to discussing progress to date with Cabinet members and hearing about next steps. I am hopeful that I will soon be able to share some good news about a lease agreement for the site. I know council staff have been working extremely hard since the announcement of the strategic review in July 2022 and indeed over the summer period to get us in as good a position as possible to have a fighting chance of saving our airport.”
And so it continues….
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Post by mrmoose on Sept 12, 2023 19:28:37 GMT
"Meanwhile, back in the real world..." springs to mind
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Post by pug on Sept 12, 2023 20:02:16 GMT
"Meanwhile, back in the real world..." springs to mind They aren’t going to give up.. Meanwhile HUY continues to struggle to tread water.
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Post by pug on Sept 12, 2023 21:43:45 GMT
doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g4600/Public%20reports%20pack%2020th-Sep-2023%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10Document released ahead of the cabinet meeting next week. In summary, CDC propose a lease as the only viable option. With that comes a tender process to appoint a private sector operator. Lots of mention of the requirement highlighted during the market enquiry process that CDC would need to effectively subsidise the costs of reopening and may offer 6 -24 months rent free whereby the tax payer picks up the slack and pays Peel a likely not unsubstantial sum in leasehold costs. It will be passed. The tax payer has spoken. Next bankrupt local authority?
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Post by flyer on Sept 13, 2023 8:15:18 GMT
doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g4600/Public%20reports%20pack%2020th-Sep-2023%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10Document released ahead of the cabinet meeting next week. In summary, CDC propose a lease as the only viable option. With that comes a tender process to appoint a private sector operator. Lots of mention of the requirement highlighted during the market enquiry process that CDC would need to effectively subsidise the costs of reopening and may offer 6 -24 months rent free whereby the tax payer picks up the slack and pays Peel a likely not unsubstantial sum in leasehold costs. It will be passed. The tax payer has spoken. Next bankrupt local authority? Not a surprise that the consultants show a route for their client (the Mayor) to try to get what she wants. It's their job for which they are very well paid. Also not a surprise that Peel will agree to lease providing they are getting a good rent. What is surprising is DMBC will spend large sums of public money on a venture full of known unknowns in the knowledge that the aiport failed in the past. It really has become an obsession of the DMBC leadership- just look at the language "Throwing kitchen sink " !!
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Post by pug on Oct 14, 2023 23:40:16 GMT
doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g4600/Public%20reports%20pack%2020th-Sep-2023%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10Document released ahead of the cabinet meeting next week. In summary, CDC propose a lease as the only viable option. With that comes a tender process to appoint a private sector operator. Lots of mention of the requirement highlighted during the market enquiry process that CDC would need to effectively subsidise the costs of reopening and may offer 6 -24 months rent free whereby the tax payer picks up the slack and pays Peel a likely not unsubstantial sum in leasehold costs. It will be passed. The tax payer has spoken. Next bankrupt local authority? Not a surprise that the consultants show a route for their client (the Mayor) to try to get what she wants. It's their job for which they are very well paid. Also not a surprise that Peel will agree to lease providing they are getting a good rent. What is surprising is DMBC will spend large sums of public money on a venture full of known unknowns in the knowledge that the aiport failed in the past. It really has become an obsession of the DMBC leadership- just look at the language "Throwing kitchen sink " !! Amongst the small number of bids submitted so far are Vinci. I would argue a highly credible operator with bucket loads of experience. However, what will they need in return? They’d clearly bring with them some long standing airline relationships, but will these airlines buy in? I would expect of DSA does reopen (under the right operator) KLM will move there. Very little incentive to stay at HUY with the way things are.
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Post by flyer on Oct 15, 2023 7:18:07 GMT
The underlying issues that led to the failure of DSA remain whoever has a go at reviving it. A new operator will need a lot of public money if they are to be tempted to take it on. Ed Milliband has recently confirmed that a lease has not been agreed. CDC need lease terms that an operator would be willing and able to take on when the public money finishes and that remains a real problem.
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Post by pug on Oct 15, 2023 9:27:00 GMT
The underlying issues that led to the failure of DSA remain whoever has a go at reviving it. A new operator will need a lot of public money if they are to be tempted to take it on. Ed Milliband has recently confirmed that a lease has not been agreed. CDC need lease terms that an operator would be willing and able to take on when the public money finishes and that remains a real problem. I understand that the pot available to SYMCA allows for enough to get it reopened, not sure how much a budding operator will want in the first couple of years of operation though. I do agree it rests with Peel, they have requested that the land be given a bit of a clean up ahead of surveyors visiting the site in the next few weeks apparently, not sure who the surveyors are acting on behalf of, possibly CDC. I do agree, the same problems will remain. However, I think once again one of their target airlines will of course be KLM. They way things are at HUY at the moment means it’s a sitting duck. I don’t believe 2Excel will pull out everything though owing to the coast guard contract. Still, it just hammers the nail in. If only North Lincolnshire Council would pressure the majority shareholder of Humberside and take more positive steps to hold them to account! Seems they may have divided loyalty.
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Post by flyer on Oct 15, 2023 16:55:48 GMT
The underlying issues that led to the failure of DSA remain whoever has a go at reviving it. A new operator will need a lot of public money if they are to be tempted to take it on. Ed Milliband has recently confirmed that a lease has not been agreed. CDC need lease terms that an operator would be willing and able to take on when the public money finishes and that remains a real problem. I understand that the pot available to SYMCA allows for enough to get it reopened, not sure how much a budding operator will want in the first couple of years of operation though. I do agree it rests with Peel, they have requested that the land be given a bit of a clean up ahead of surveyors visiting the site in the next few weeks apparently, not sure who the surveyors are acting on behalf of, possibly CDC. I do agree, the same problems will remain. However, I think once again one of their target airlines will of course be KLM. They way things are at HUY at the moment means it’s a sitting duck. I don’t believe 2Excel will pull out everything though owing to the coast guard contract. Still, it just hammers the nail in. If only North Lincolnshire Council would pressure the majority shareholder of Humberside and take more positive steps to hold them to account! Seems they may have divided loyalty. Yes, I think the survey you mention is for CSD to find out exactly how much its likely to cost them to get the site ready for an Operator so likely they will pay. HUY situation is indeed depressing. The Owners might be thinking that HUY has niche so leave it as it is. Sad truth is comfy niches tend not to last so unless they have a plan to develop in some direction prospectst for the future not bright.
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Post by pug on Oct 15, 2023 17:04:52 GMT
I understand that the pot available to SYMCA allows for enough to get it reopened, not sure how much a budding operator will want in the first couple of years of operation though. I do agree it rests with Peel, they have requested that the land be given a bit of a clean up ahead of surveyors visiting the site in the next few weeks apparently, not sure who the surveyors are acting on behalf of, possibly CDC. I do agree, the same problems will remain. However, I think once again one of their target airlines will of course be KLM. They way things are at HUY at the moment means it’s a sitting duck. I don’t believe 2Excel will pull out everything though owing to the coast guard contract. Still, it just hammers the nail in. If only North Lincolnshire Council would pressure the majority shareholder of Humberside and take more positive steps to hold them to account! Seems they may have divided loyalty. Yes, I think the survey you mention is for CSD to find out exactly how much its likely to cost them to get the site ready for an Operator so likely they will pay. HUY situation is indeed depressing. The Owners might be thinking that HUY has niche so leave it as it is. Sad truth is comfy niches tend not to last so unless they have a plan to develop in some direction prospectst for the future not bright. I doubt Bristow generally know about Humberside other than it being a helipad for their SAR contract. That’s the sad fact. It’s worth less than £10million. A steal compared to DSA. Our local authorities would do well to remember that rather than throwing their own support behind the DSA project.
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Post by pug on Nov 16, 2023 18:14:40 GMT
Ros Jones has released another update this afternoon, nothing much new to report by the looks of it;
Still in discussions with Peel over a lease - talks still ‘progressing’.
Still in discussions with Government and CAA (to protect airspace).
Newer bits of info;
Received 8 expressions of interest, this has been whittled down to 4 that the council would like to work with, these 4 have been invited to tender. Winning bidder to be announced in Spring 2024.
Council to take Outline Business Case to CDC Cabinet which will then be submitted to SYMCA to draw down gainshare.. Not entirely sure what gainshare is exactly in this context, but basically this is the proposal to get the £100millon or so required to see the airport reopen. So this is pending SYMCA approval, which she hopes to get in January.
So despite now knowing how many companies expressed interest, nothing new to report
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