Doncaster airport

[Sprotyrover]

I have no idea what Nick Fletcher did or didn’t do with regards getting the deal over the line but I can remember him highlighting quite a few times on the news that the airport should be reopened.
He did keep it in vogue.

He obviously led the whole thing hound.
It wasn't Ros Jones and her cabinet that worked hard for months on end to see this result, and threatening Peel with a CPO, it was Nick having his photo taken outside the Airport that did the trick.
I'm sure he was right when he wrote that the Council had closed it in the first place.
You can't trust them hound, you old wind up merchant.
Vote T.... Oh I forgot.

What Fletcher did was continuously lobby the local Labour Mayor Coppard to utilise funding streams he has access to due to devolution to the tune of £2.4 billion. Coppard did his level best to claim he had no such resources and in any case could not spend a penny on the Airport, it got to the point where the Government had to step in and tell Coppard that he could spend his funds on reopening the Airport! Ollie the wally actually tried to play politics and went on to claim the Government was preventing him from spending £30 million allocated for the construction of a Rail link into DSA.
It was all a bit embarrassing really, as he had hoisted himself by his own Petard by failing to lend Peel £20 million which caused them to close it, He has gradually realised that he had undermined the City of Doncaster and also severely reduced his own place in the Pecking order of other Northern Mayors, such as Burnham and co. He had walked into a job where he was a lower Premiership manager and by his own stupidity and lack of foresight he lowered his status to a lowly league 2 manager, South Yorkshhire had under his tenure moved from being a large Metropolitain region boasting its own international Airport boasting an 800 acre advanced engineering business park(Gate way East) to the only Metropolitan area without an
Airport! Plus any interest in companies thinking about moving onto Gateway East had wilted. Thankfully those pesky Tories have made the area a development zone and provided £160 worth of funding ..how dare they!

Thats just b*llocks and you know it

Prove me wrong mr one liner?

[Filo]

I have no idea what Nick Fletcher did or didn’t do with regards getting the deal over the line but I can remember him highlighting quite a few times on the news that the airport should be reopened.
He did keep it in vogue.

He obviously led the whole thing hound.
It wasn't Ros Jones and her cabinet that worked hard for months on end to see this result, and threatening Peel with a CPO, it was Nick having his photo taken outside the Airport that did the trick.
I'm sure he was right when he wrote that the Council had closed it in the first place.
You can't trust them hound, you old wind up merchant.
Vote T.... Oh I forgot.

What Fletcher did was continuously lobby the local Labour Mayor Coppard to utilise funding streams he has access to due to devolution to the tune of £2.4 billion. Coppard did his level best to claim he had no such resources and in any case could not spend a penny on the Airport, it got to the point where the Government had to step in and tell Coppard that he could spend his funds on reopening the Airport! Ollie the wally actually tried to play politics and went on to claim the Government was preventing him from spending £30 million allocated for the construction of a Rail link into DSA.
It was all a bit embarrassing really, as he had hoisted himself by his own Petard by failing to lend Peel £20 million which caused them to close it, He has gradually realised that he had undermined the City of Doncaster and also severely reduced his own place in the Pecking order of other Northern Mayors, such as Burnham and co. He had walked into a job where he was a lower Premiership manager and by his own stupidity and lack of foresight he lowered his status to a lowly league 2 manager, South Yorkshhire had under his tenure moved from being a large Metropolitain region boasting its own international Airport boasting an 800 acre advanced engineering business park(Gate way East) to the only Metropolitan area without an
Airport! Plus any interest in companies thinking about moving onto Gateway East had wilted. Thankfully those pesky Tories have made the area a development zone and provided £160 worth of funding ..how dare they!

Thats just b*llocks and you know it

Prove me wrong mr one liner?

You made the allegations, you prove yourself right

[SydneyRover]

Not sure if this is relevant sprot?

Oliver Coppard

''For the record this is the letter I sent requesting the change, so we could use the £30M for the reopening costs at DSA, rather than for the proposed rail link.

I would certainly consider this a sufficiently formal request''

https://twitter.com/olivercoppard/status/1749789542217912402

Not relevant he was put in his place prior to that

You'll be providing proof of couse sprot?

[Filo]

With apologies for the length of the post, and its tone.

I do not like divisive, confrontational politics but at this point - alongside Ros Jones - I feel like I have little choice but to respond to Nick Fletcher MP, who has been doing his best to distract from the total lack of government support we’ve had in South Yorkshire, for our continued efforts to reopen DSA.

I’m deeply sorry that Nick continues to choose to mislead people, rather than helping us to get some real support from the government for our efforts.

To correct the record:

- The money referred to by Nick Fletcher in his recent post has been *notionally* allocated to South Yorkshire for the period 2027 to 2032. Not a single penny of the money Nick is talking about is available to us today. We may never even get it. Even if/when we do get to access that funding, the final say over how we spend that money is made by Nick’s Conservative colleagues in the government. That is the same process as was used for the last round of money, CRSTS1. We do not have control over that money locally.
- For example, in 2022 the Combined Authority allocated £30 million from the first round of CRSTS for the rail project to the airport in Doncaster; money which we have not been allowed to spend. Doncaster Council asked the government – Nick’s colleagues and friends – to let us spend that money on reopening the airport. *They said no.* South Yorkshire is simply not allowed to spend any money from CRSTS without the agreement of the government, and they only allow us to spend money on the things they want to see happen.
- The government has said that the so called ‘Network North’ proposals are their plans for how to spend the £36 billion they have supposedly saved by cancelling another project in the North – the HS2 leg to Manchester. They did not include DSA in those plans, nor did they ask us what our priorities would be before they announced those plans. I have repeatedly asked the government why.
- However, anyone who has been paying attention over the last year knows that the problem from day one has never just been the money; it has been that Peel are a private company who did not want to sell the airport. The only people who could maybe have changed the law - or used existing laws like the Civil Contingencies Act – to force Peel to change their minds, to keep the airport open, are the government. They chose not to help. This is despite the Prime Minister – Liz Truss – saying in the House of Commons she would ‘do everything she could to save DSA’. She did literally nothing.   

Both Doncaster Council and my team here at the Combined Authority are working tirelessly to reopen DSA; pursuing both a CPO and a lease. We have continued to fight Peels plans for the land DSA sits on, which is why we have been able to force them to the negotiating table.

We have so far had no help from the government at all. They have made no money available to us in response to our repeated requests for help, and made no efforts to use the tools they do have to help us, despite saying they would ‘do everything they could to save DSA’. Despite the lack of help from the government, we will use the money we have available to us locally to try and reopen DSA, if Peel do agree to a lease. We will pursue a CPO if not. 

Perhaps people might like to join me in asking Nick Fletcher MP why his colleagues and friends in government chose to turn down our request to use the £30 million CRSTS money we have available today, which was supposed to be spent in Doncaster?

One thing I know for sure is that we are much more likely to reopen DSA if we work together across South Yorkshire. Whether the government choose to help us or not, the least Nick could do would be to stop seeking to mislead and misdirect people in the hope of creating arguments, and dividing the communities of Doncaster and South Yorkshire.

The success of Sheffield relies on the success of Doncaster. The success of Rotherham relies on Barnsley. And vice-versa. We are one region, one community, and I will do everything in my power to spread wealth, opportunity and success to every corner of South Yorkshire. That includes doing everything I can to reopen DSA.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Personally on the politics of it;

Fletcher is right to raise a number of points, the local devolved politicians have made mistakes, particularly the SY mayor who could and should have done much more.

They are then quite right to call out that the conservative government has offered nothing of note throughout the issue, including him.

The local council have IMO so far done a brilliant job at doing this in a professional, quiet manner following clear processes, though I still believe the SY mayor should have intervened before closure in a much better way.

But overall actually the campaigning from all sides has driven a strong outcome and that's vital in politics.  Fletcher has talked some proper rubbish at times but that constant pressure does help to keep the local authorities on their toes.  It's vital we have that in this area rather than a one party monopoly.  It's created good debate regardless of doing much of substance.

I think a lease led by the authorities but run by a good private operator is a good way forward, it would probably be stronger if the site was owned, but a long lease is as good as that.  What I think has been clear is that the local population don't want another warehouse site, it wants an airport and it's an airport that if they get it right can really thrive. Good location, easy to get to and a local area that embraces it.  It just needs a slightly better public transport offering, particularly by rail and it'll thrive with the right operators.

[Sprotyrover]

Some good points there!
The local authorities can do something about the rail link as they can access the £30 million, but I understand that they must also put £20 Million into the investment!
When Coppard approached the Government for the money to be Vied he was playing Politics as he would have been advised by whoever manages the Regions funding streams,that the money could only be used for the Rail link.

[Filo]

Some good points there!
The local authorities can do something about the rail link as they can access the £30 million, but I understand that they must also put £20 Million into the investment!
When Coppard approached the Government for the money to be Vied he was playing Politics as he would have been advised by whoever manages the Regions funding streams,that the money could only be used for the Rail link.

More rubbish

[Sprotyrover]

Some good points there!
The local authorities can do something about the rail link as they can access the £30 million, but I understand that they must also put £20 Million into the investment!
When Coppard approached the Government for the money to be Vied he was playing Politics as he would have been advised by whoever manages the Regions funding streams,that the money could only be used for the Rail link.

More rubbish

Prove me wrong!

[SydneyRover]

Personally on the politics of it;

Fletcher is right to raise a number of points, the local devolved politicians have made mistakes, particularly the SY mayor who could and should have done much more.

They are then quite right to call out that the conservative government has offered nothing of note throughout the issue, including him.

The local council have IMO so far done a brilliant job at doing this in a professional, quiet manner following clear processes, though I still believe the SY mayor should have intervened before closure in a much better way.

But overall actually the campaigning from all sides has driven a strong outcome and that's vital in politics.  Fletcher has talked some proper rubbish at times but that constant pressure does help to keep the local authorities on their toes.  It's vital we have that in this area rather than a one party monopoly.  It's created good debate regardless of doing much of substance.

I think a lease led by the authorities but run by a good private operator is a good way forward, it would probably be stronger if the site was owned, but a long lease is as good as that.  What I think has been clear is that the local population don't want another warehouse site, it wants an airport and it's an airport that if they get it right can really thrive. Good location, easy to get to and a local area that embraces it.  It just needs a slightly better public transport offering, particularly by rail and it'll thrive with the right operators.

An interesting point pud, DSA was a private enterprise, what could the SY Mayor have done, what powers did/does he have that would have been useful in preventing of DSA closing without the support of the government?

[Filo]

Some good points there!
The local authorities can do something about the rail link as they can access the £30 million, but I understand that they must also put £20 Million into the investment!
When Coppard approached the Government for the money to be Vied he was playing Politics as he would have been advised by whoever manages the Regions funding streams,that the money could only be used for the Rail link.

More rubbish

Prove me wrong!

You’ve yet to prove yourself right from your first load of b*llocks

[WheatleyRover]

There's a bit more here on that, thanks for posting phil.

''Two Boeing 727's owned by 2Excel Aviation and operating on behalf of Oil Spill Response Limited were relocated to Teesside Airport from Doncaster Sheffield Airport in November 2022. The aircraft are deployed anywhere in the world in the event of a major oil spill to spray dispersant material.[65]''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teesside_International_Airport

2excel said they would be bringing there fleet back to DSA once reopened as they are still based there. Here is there recent statement from the last few days.

STATEMENT: The Future Of Doncaster-Sheffield Airport

Since Peel Group announced the closure of Doncaster-Sheffield Airport back in 2022, 2Excel has been continuously engaged with City of Doncaster Council to support the local authority’s ambition to reopen the airport.

Doncaster airport is a nationally significant, strategic asset that should never have been allowed to close. The loss of 2Excel’s Main Operating Base has cost our Company millions of pounds in additional expenses from being forced to relocate our aircraft and engineering functions to a clutch of other airports.

We are greatly appreciative of the Council’s tireless efforts to take on a lease for the DSA site and its determination to restore commercial air transport. While returning Doncaster’s facilities to what we previously enjoyed may take many months, we are together exploring options that would enable unlicensed flights to and from the site, similar to how we operate at Lasham airfield, home of our sister company 2Excel Engineering, until such a time that Doncaster reopens to commercial traffic.

We want to reiterate our support for City of Doncaster Council and the fantastic work they’ve completed so far, never losing sight of the end goal of reopening the airport by partnering with an established operator. Reopening would see 2Excel restart flight operations from Hangar 3, bringing back high-value, highly-skilled and well-paid jobs to the local area and pave the way to increase our presence at the site to match our Company’s ambitious growth plans.

[SydneyRover]

That is really positive news.

[WheatleyRover]

That is really positive news.

Yes and the lease should have secured the future of the Vulcan, hopefully she can be given a proper Hangar and turn it into a visitors centre.

[Sprotyrover]

Some good points there!
The local authorities can do something about the rail link as they can access the £30 million, but I understand that they must also put £20 Million into the investment!
When Coppard approached the Government for the money to be Vied he was playing Politics as he would have been advised by whoever manages the Regions funding streams,that the money could only be used for the Rail link.

More rubbish

Prove me wrong!

You’ve yet to prove yourself right from your first load of b*llocks

No I am not wasting 2 hours of my life to prove you wrong just go on Fletchers FB page or look at the Free Press!

[SydneyRover]

Do you have slow internet sprot?

[Filo]

Some good points there!
The local authorities can do something about the rail link as they can access the £30 million, but I understand that they must also put £20 Million into the investment!
When Coppard approached the Government for the money to be Vied he was playing Politics as he would have been advised by whoever manages the Regions funding streams,that the money could only be used for the Rail link.

More rubbish

Prove me wrong!

You’ve yet to prove yourself right from your first load of b*llocks

No I am not wasting 2 hours of my life to prove you wrong just go on Fletchers FB page or look at the Free Press!

But you expect others to waste 2 hours of their lives to prove you wrong

Fletchers facebook page only has his words and those who blindly follow him, anyone that challenges his words are blocked without explanation or counter points to the challenges made, you are obviously in the first group, I am in the second group along with many others

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I'm glad someone's put the record straight on Fletcher. At best, you could say he kept banging the drum but unfortunately he misled the public on a number of occasions, making claims about funding and the ability to buy the airport etc. In addition, he was rebuked more than once for jeopardising negotiations with Peel with his false reporting. On top of that, he went through the motions of calling for a public enquiry in the House of Commons knowing full well, this wasn't an issue of sufficient national interest to justify a public enquiry.

Just sad that he's just a political opportunist, like many of them on both sides, but it's assuring that Ros Jones and the team led by DMBC have been thoroughly professional by conducting their feasibilities and negotiations behind the scenes to get this far. They are the ones who really mattered and have used what powers they had to good effect knowing a CPO was always a very last resort.

We all know there's risks involved, particularly with public funds, and should the airport re-open, there's no guarantee of success but this way, it's going to have the best opportunity without being a huge drain on public funds.

The hard work must continue whilst Fletcher gets on with what he does best, like blaming DMBC for M&S closing the town centre store.

[Sprotyrover]

Fletcher has a point there, DMBC fixated on parking charges making the Town centre unattractive to Motorists! No doubt he’s wrong on that one too!

[Sprotyrover]

Personally on the politics of it;

Fletcher is right to raise a number of points, the local devolved politicians have made mistakes, particularly the SY mayor who could and should have done much more.

They are then quite right to call out that the conservative government has offered nothing of note throughout the issue, including him.

The local council have IMO so far done a brilliant job at doing this in a professional, quiet manner following clear processes, though I still believe the SY mayor should have intervened before closure in a much better way.

But overall actually the campaigning from all sides has driven a strong outcome and that's vital in politics.  Fletcher has talked some proper rubbish at times but that constant pressure does help to keep the local authorities on their toes.  It's vital we have that in this area rather than a one party monopoly.  It's created good debate regardless of doing much of substance.

I think a lease led by the authorities but run by a good private operator is a good way forward, it would probably be stronger if the site was owned, but a long lease is as good as that.  What I think has been clear is that the local population don't want another warehouse site, it wants an airport and it's an airport that if they get it right can really thrive. Good location, easy to get to and a local area that embraces it.  It just needs a slightly better public transport offering, particularly by rail and it'll thrive with the right operators.

An interesting point pud, DSA was a private enterprise, what could the SY Mayor have done, what powers did/does he have that would have been useful in preventing of DSA closing without the support of the government?

Here you go Skippy,
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/potential-use-of-funding-settlements-for-doncaster-sheffield-airport

[Jonathan]

Fletcher has a point there, DMBC fixated on parking charges making the Town centre unattractive to Motorists! No doubt he’s wrong on that one too!

Doncaster Council, like Local Authorities, will have little option in that area. The costs of looking after vulnerable children and adults are rising exponentially, central government settlement through the formula grants (especially for northern councils) is squeezed further under Tory governments. Borrowing to fund revenue spending is not sustainable, there are limits on how far council tax increases can be imposed, so raising discretionary charges is sadly inevitable to fund the delivery of essential services. Neither elected members nor officers (most of whom I expect live in the city) will revel in increasing parking charges. But honestly, what do you expect them to do? They have to balance the budget. There are statutory services that they must deliver, but the funding support just isn’t there. It’s broken and that will be a huge challenge for the incoming Labour Goverment, but we must surely hope they’ll aim to deliver are fairer and more equitable society than the current mob. Even the dyed in the wool tories on here must surely see that this is broken and that invariably the northern towns and cities suffer the most. The numbers are all there for you.

Huge credit to the mayor and to the council for their roles in getting the airport ready to reopen. It’s to be hoped that it can prove to be the catalyst to bring some much needed prosperity back to the area. I agree fully with BFYP that better transport links are crucial and they must be one of the key strategic investment priorities.

[Sprotyrover]

I have no idea what Nick Fletcher did or didn’t do with regards getting the deal over the line but I can remember him highlighting quite a few times on the news that the airport should be reopened.
He did keep it in vogue.

He obviously led the whole thing hound.
It wasn't Ros Jones and her cabinet that worked hard for months on end to see this result, and threatening Peel with a CPO, it was Nick having his photo taken outside the Airport that did the trick.
I'm sure he was right when he wrote that the Council had closed it in the first place.
You can't trust them hound, you old wind up merchant.
Vote T.... Oh I forgot.

What Fletcher did was continuously lobby the local Labour Mayor Coppard to utilise funding streams he has access to due to devolution to the tune of £2.4 billion. Coppard did his level best to claim he had no such resources and in any case could not spend a penny on the Airport, it got to the point where the Government had to step in and tell Coppard that he could spend his funds on reopening the Airport! Ollie the wally actually tried to play politics and went on to claim the Government was preventing him from spending £30 million allocated for the construction of a Rail link into DSA.
It was all a bit embarrassing really, as he had hoisted himself by his own Petard by failing to lend Peel £20 million which caused them to close it, He has gradually realised that he had undermined the City of Doncaster and also severely reduced his own place in the Pecking order of other Northern Mayors, such as Burnham and co. He had walked into a job where he was a lower Premiership manager and by his own stupidity and lack of foresight he lowered his status to a lowly league 2 manager, South Yorkshhire had under his tenure moved from being a large Metropolitain region boasting its own international Airport boasting an 800 acre advanced engineering business park(Gate way East) to the only Metropolitan area without an
Airport! Plus any interest in companies thinking about moving onto Gateway East had wilted. Thankfully those pesky Tories have made the area a development zone and provided £160 worth of funding ..how dare they!

Thats just b*llocks and you know it

Prove me wrong mr one liner?

You made the allegations, you prove yourself right

From Fletchers FB page
AIRPORT ARTICLE RESPONSE

I have to call this out. This is classic misinformation. This Mirror article is such a travesty. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-ministers-block-30m-cash-31928642

It totally blames Government when the issue is with #TheTwoMayors. 

Local Labour leaders have the power to raise £900 million through gainshare to save the airport. In South Yorkshire they chose not to do so in 2022. Ben Houchen who is a Conservative Mayor did it in Teesside and saved the airport. Their economy is rocketing now. Compare and contrast them with us.

In 2023 they received guarantees of £1.455 billion for Transport projects. Yet they still refuse to use the  £900 million that could save our airport or make it ready for any future operator. Why?

Let’s look at what’s they say and what they do.

WHAT THEY SAY the airport is their Number 1 priority. They say they will do all they can to save the airport.

WHAT THEY DO. They allocate £2 million for the airport.
They allocate £596 million for Sheffield and its Supertrams.
They do not raise money through gainshare for the airport.
They agree that buses are their Number 1 priority.
They blame Government for not acting when it is they who have the devolved powers.

They are not only being disingenuous, they use every trick in the book to play party politics and it’s not on. The £30 million is for the airport rail link. Unless they’ve given up on the airport, we must not allow that cash to be earmarked for anything else.

I always ask to be judged on my actions. The local Labour leaders need to be too. This is yet another example of why we should vote in the consultation for this Mayor not to have more powers and responsibilities. He can’t even exercise the ones he has in a competent way. We don’t want him having even more opportunity to get it wrong and blame government for his lack of action. We are the ones who will suffer.

The link is here: #SayNO to #SaveDSA.

https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/south-yorkshire-pcc-functions-transfer/

[Sprotyrover]

Fletcher has a point there, DMBC fixated on parking charges making the Town centre unattractive to Motorists! No doubt he’s wrong on that one too!

Doncaster Council, like Local Authorities, will have little option in that area. The costs of looking after vulnerable children and adults are rising exponentially, central government settlement through the formula grants (especially for northern councils) is squeezed further under Tory governments. Borrowing to fund revenue spending is not sustainable, there are limits on how far council tax increases can be imposed, so raising discretionary charges is sadly inevitable to fund the delivery of essential services. Neither elected members nor officers (most of whom I expect live in the city) will revel in increasing parking charges. But honestly, what do you expect them to do? They have to balance the budget. There are statutory services that they must deliver, but the funding support just isn’t there. It’s broken and that will be a huge challenge for the incoming Labour Goverment, but we must surely hope they’ll aim to deliver are fairer and more equitable society than the current mob. Even the dyed in the wool tories on here must surely see that this is broken and that invariably the northern towns and cities suffer the most. The numbers are all there for you.

Huge credit to the mayor and to the council for their roles in getting the airport ready to reopen. It’s to be hoped that it can prove to be the catalyst to bring some much needed prosperity back to the area. I agree fully with BFYP that better transport links are crucial and they must be one of the key strategic investment priorities.

I agree with you Jonathan, but they are losing revenue due to loss of  business tax on the likes of M&S god knows how much M&S have been paying on their Frenchgate store but there aren’t losing anything now! The loss of M&S will kill off a great deal of footfall into the Town centre.

[Jonathan]

Fletcher has a point there, DMBC fixated on parking charges making the Town centre unattractive to Motorists! No doubt he’s wrong on that one too!

Doncaster Council, like Local Authorities, will have little option in that area. The costs of looking after vulnerable children and adults are rising exponentially, central government settlement through the formula grants (especially for northern councils) is squeezed further under Tory governments. Borrowing to fund revenue spending is not sustainable, there are limits on how far council tax increases can be imposed, so raising discretionary charges is sadly inevitable to fund the delivery of essential services. Neither elected members nor officers (most of whom I expect live in the city) will revel in increasing parking charges. But honestly, what do you expect them to do? They have to balance the budget. There are statutory services that they must deliver, but the funding support just isn’t there. It’s broken and that will be a huge challenge for the incoming Labour Goverment, but we must surely hope they’ll aim to deliver are fairer and more equitable society than the current mob. Even the dyed in the wool tories on here must surely see that this is broken and that invariably the northern towns and cities suffer the most. The numbers are all there for you.

Huge credit to the mayor and to the council for their roles in getting the airport ready to reopen. It’s to be hoped that it can prove to be the catalyst to bring some much needed prosperity back to the area. I agree fully with BFYP that better transport links are crucial and they must be one of the key strategic investment priorities.

I agree with you Jonathan, but they are losing revenue due to loss of  business tax on the likes of M&S god knows how much M&S have been paying on their Frenchgate store but there aren’t losing anything now! The loss of M&S will kill off a great deal of footfall into the Town centre.

It’s not simply Business Rates that are causing the closure of the M&S store. The city centre business is failing. It’s a great shame and I feel it as someone that grew up in the town. I know how important that store is particularly to the elderly community. But the fall in turnover is symptomatic of high street shopping trends and the huge shift online. The bigger cities are trying to move with the times and encourage more interactive city centre experiences but the death of the high street is a challenge facing all Local Authorities. A business rates subsidy wouldn’t save the Doncaster M&S, it’s a cut throat business decision and you can’t just lay the blame at the council’s door. People shop online increasingly now, and we’re seeing the consequence.

Aside from which if you do want to blame Business Rates, which you appear to be, who are you blaming?

[WheatleyRover]

Can we keep this on topic!

[Sprotyrover]

Fletcher has a point there, DMBC fixated on parking charges making the Town centre unattractive to Motorists! No doubt he’s wrong on that one too!

Doncaster Council, like Local Authorities, will have little option in that area. The costs of looking after vulnerable children and adults are rising exponentially, central government settlement through the formula grants (especially for northern councils) is squeezed further under Tory governments. Borrowing to fund revenue spending is not sustainable, there are limits on how far council tax increases can be imposed, so raising discretionary charges is sadly inevitable to fund the delivery of essential services. Neither elected members nor officers (most of whom I expect live in the city) will revel in increasing parking charges. But honestly, what do you expect them to do? They have to balance the budget. There are statutory services that they must deliver, but the funding support just isn’t there. It’s broken and that will be a huge challenge for the incoming Labour Goverment, but we must surely hope they’ll aim to deliver are fairer and more equitable society than the current mob. Even the dyed in the wool tories on here must surely see that this is broken and that invariably the northern towns and cities suffer the most. The numbers are all there for you.

Huge credit to the mayor and to the council for their roles in getting the airport ready to reopen. It’s to be hoped that it can prove to be the catalyst to bring some much needed prosperity back to the area. I agree fully with BFYP that better transport links are crucial and they must be one of the key strategic investment priorities.

I agree with you Jonathan, but they are losing revenue due to loss of  business tax on the likes of M&S god knows how much M&S have been paying on their Frenchgate store but there aren’t losing anything now! The loss of M&S will kill off a great deal of footfall into the Town centre.

It’s not simply Business Rates that are causing the closure of the M&S store. The city centre business is failing. It’s a great shame and I feel it as someone that grew up in the town. I know how important that store is particularly to the elderly community. But the fall in turnover is symptomatic of high street shopping trends and the huge shift online. The bigger cities are trying to move with the times and encourage more interactive city centre experiences but the death of the high street is a challenge facing all Local Authorities. A business rates subsidy wouldn’t save the Doncaster M&S, it’s a cut throat business decision and you can’t just lay the blame at the council’s door. People shop online increasingly now, and we’re seeing the consequence.

Aside from which if you do want to blame Business Rates, which you appear to be, who are you blaming?

I am not blaming anyone, but there needs to be a search for a solution . Opening up some of the town centre to traffic is one of them!

[Iberian Red]

Can we keep this on topic!

Agreed

Well done to the two local mayors.
Fletcher is a proper  Kitson isn't he.

[Iberian Red]

There's a long way to go yet with the airport yet,but so long as we can keep cnuts like Fletcher and his like minded supporters away from it we have a chance.

[tyke1962]

Fletcher has a point there, DMBC fixated on parking charges making the Town centre unattractive to Motorists! No doubt he’s wrong on that one too!

Doncaster Council, like Local Authorities, will have little option in that area. The costs of looking after vulnerable children and adults are rising exponentially, central government settlement through the formula grants (especially for northern councils) is squeezed further under Tory governments. Borrowing to fund revenue spending is not sustainable, there are limits on how far council tax increases can be imposed, so raising discretionary charges is sadly inevitable to fund the delivery of essential services. Neither elected members nor officers (most of whom I expect live in the city) will revel in increasing parking charges. But honestly, what do you expect them to do? They have to balance the budget. There are statutory services that they must deliver, but the funding support just isn’t there. It’s broken and that will be a huge challenge for the incoming Labour Goverment, but we must surely hope they’ll aim to deliver are fairer and more equitable society than the current mob. Even the dyed in the wool tories on here must surely see that this is broken and that invariably the northern towns and cities suffer the most. The numbers are all there for you.

Huge credit to the mayor and to the council for their roles in getting the airport ready to reopen. It’s to be hoped that it can prove to be the catalyst to bring some much needed prosperity back to the area. I agree fully with BFYP that better transport links are crucial and they must be one of the key strategic investment priorities.

I agree with you Jonathan, but they are losing revenue due to loss of  business tax on the likes of M&S god knows how much M&S have been paying on their Frenchgate store but there aren’t losing anything now! The loss of M&S will kill off a great deal of footfall into the Town centre.

It’s not simply Business Rates that are causing the closure of the M&S store. The city centre business is failing. It’s a great shame and I feel it as someone that grew up in the town. I know how important that store is particularly to the elderly community. But the fall in turnover is symptomatic of high street shopping trends and the huge shift online. The bigger cities are trying to move with the times and encourage more interactive city centre experiences but the death of the high street is a challenge facing all Local Authorities. A business rates subsidy wouldn’t save the Doncaster M&S, it’s a cut throat business decision and you can’t just lay the blame at the council’s door. People shop online increasingly now, and we’re seeing the consequence.

Aside from which if you do want to blame Business Rates, which you appear to be, who are you blaming?

This is something my town's council saw years ago when they were putting plans together to redevelop the town centre .

Town centre's are not just about shopping today in the way they once were .

Food , Drink and  leisure are the vehicles that can drive consumers to town centre's which then creates the footfall for retail to prosper .

You create a town centre experience that people want to enjoy you'll see retail prosper .

[SydneyRover]

Personally on the politics of it;

Fletcher is right to raise a number of points, the local devolved politicians have made mistakes, particularly the SY mayor who could and should have done much more.

They are then quite right to call out that the conservative government has offered nothing of note throughout the issue, including him.

The local council have IMO so far done a brilliant job at doing this in a professional, quiet manner following clear processes, though I still believe the SY mayor should have intervened before closure in a much better way.

But overall actually the campaigning from all sides has driven a strong outcome and that's vital in politics.  Fletcher has talked some proper rubbish at times but that constant pressure does help to keep the local authorities on their toes.  It's vital we have that in this area rather than a one party monopoly.  It's created good debate regardless of doing much of substance.

I think a lease led by the authorities but run by a good private operator is a good way forward, it would probably be stronger if the site was owned, but a long lease is as good as that.  What I think has been clear is that the local population don't want another warehouse site, it wants an airport and it's an airport that if they get it right can really thrive. Good location, easy to get to and a local area that embraces it.  It just needs a slightly better public transport offering, particularly by rail and it'll thrive with the right operators.

An interesting point pud, DSA was a private enterprise, what could the SY Mayor have done, what powers did/does he have that would have been useful in preventing of DSA closing without the support of the government?

Here you go Skippy,
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/potential-use-of-funding-settlements-for-doncaster-sheffield-airport

It doesn't answer the questions I asked spotty, maybe there's more than a slow internet connection?

[SydneyRover]

There's a long way to go yet with the airport yet,but so long as we can keep cnuts like Fletcher and his like minded supporters away from it we have a chance.

Yep, there's an expectation of 5 years of work before any profit.