Is a publicly run airport a good idea?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

The saga of Doncaster Sheffield Airport is finally nearing its conclusion. However, a story last week raised new questions about the wisdom of the project. South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has always said he wanted a private sector company to operate the airport. But now it looks as though Doncaster Council will run the airport itself after failing to find a willing private sector partner. Should councils really be running airports? That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have news of a Covid loan fraudster, a new exhibition of work from an acclaimed Sheffield-born painter at the Graves Gallery, and a lovely home in Little Kelham.

In case you missed it

Last week we had an eclectic mix of stuff on The Tribune. Dan headed to the Rules Derby to watch the world’s two oldest football clubs meet at the world’s oldest football ground. Readers got in touch with their suggestions for a new football museum (in the old John Lewis?) and long-time commenter Ruth Grimsley laid into the FA in her inimitable style (“the words "uncultured", "ignorant", "philistine", and "moronic" do tend to surface in my brain”). Then Dan’s piece on Fargate prompted a mega-debate — 69 comments — running the full gamut from delighted to despairing on the council’s plans, before Vicky looked into the fascinating story of the Sheffield Forum at the weekend.

And yesterday, Daniel Timms explained just why what we’re doing is so important in a world where social media is increasingly becoming the main source of news — controlled by a very small handful of ultra-powerful people. Here’s an extract:

“We really can take on the tech bros. We don’t need to sit and take whatever the algorithms spew up. If you feel like you’re the only one who feels depressed at what social media gives you, take heart. There are over 2,500 people in Sheffield who feel the same — and have invested in an alternative. An alternative run by three distinctly tech-phobic individuals, all living in Sheffield.”

It clearly struck a chord, with 17 of you joining the Tribune tribe — our sincere thanks to all of you. If you, too, feel uneasy at the way social media is pushing emotional responses over the truth, then please consider getting behind that alternative. It requires real journalists doing proper research, which is never free — but always worth it.

The big picture: Lift-off 🏋️

24 of the world’s strongest powerlifters came to the City Hall yesterday for the Sheffield Powerlifting Championships. 12 men and 12 women from lightweight to superheavyweight competed to see who could lift the biggest total squat, bench press and deadlift. Pictured is American powerlifter Austin Perkins, who was competing in the 74kg category.

The big story:  Is a publicly run airport a good idea?

Top line: Doncaster Sheffield Airport will be run by FlyDoncaster, a company wholly owned by City of Doncaster Council, it was revealed last week (as and when it reopens). Should local authorities really be running airports?

Background: Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed in 2022 after owners the Peel Group concluded it was no longer “commercially viable”. Since then South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has been working with City of Doncaster Council (CDC) to try to reopen it.

• In March 2024, CDC entered into a 125-year lease agreement with Peel, while SYMCA promised to give the airport an annual £5.3 million subsidy for the next 26 years (£138 million in total).
• A business case developed by CDC projected that the airport could create over 5,000 direct jobs and 6,500 indirect jobs in the regional economy. It also forecasts an economic boost of £6.6 billion, with benefits working out over nine times the costs.

Procurement problems: Since then, a competitive procurement process has been underway, but last week the Yorkshire Post revealed that this had been unsuccessful. Instead, a new company wholly owned by CDC called FlyDoncaster will manage the airport, and receive a subsidy of more than £100 million from CDC in the form of low-interest loans.

• However, when we spoke to South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard in 2023, he said that, unlike buses and trams, the private sector was best placed to run airports and he didn’t believe that public bodies should get involved. He told us:

"My view has always been that the best people to run airports are the private sector. I don't think it's worked in, for instance, the North East, where Ben Houchen, who's been the Mayor up there, has poured good money after bad.”

Trouble on Teesside: Coppard was here referring to the Teesside International Airport, which was bought by the Tees Valley Combined Authority in 2019. Since then, it’s made losses every year, some years in excess of £10m.

Peeling off: When we put it to him that Peel pulling out showed that it wasn't viable for a private sector company to run DSA, he disagreed, saying:

"There are any number of companies who could come in and run [the airport] better... Peel haven't been able to make a success of it, but that absolutely does not mean anything other than: Peel just made a mess.”

New partner: It seems that none of those companies are interested in taking DSA on — at least as the deal has been put to them. The plan now is for FlyDoncaster to partner with an airport operator after they have finalised the required contractual and legal matters. They added that they would announce further details about this arrangement in the near future.

A spokesperson for SYMCA told us: “We have always been clear that there may be a requirement for public subsidy to support the reinstatement of the airport. This requirement was made clear at the Outline Business Case stage before procurement processes had concluded.” 

Bottom line: With the £100 million loan and the SYMCA subsidy of £138 million, DSA will be receiving more than £225 million worth of public money. Our leaders hope that a reopened DSA can act as a catalyst for the whole region, but given that Peel couldn’t make the airport turn a profit after 17 years of trying, spending almost a quarter of a billion on an as yet unproven airport is a high-risk bet.

Update: SYMCA have asked us to point out that their £138 million subsidy is to be used not just to reopen DSA, but also to create a "world leading sustainable aviation hub at Gateway East". We are happy to do so.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

Covid con 💷 The long tail of fraudulent Covid claims continues. One of the latest is Hannah Lucy Walker, from Southey Green, who applied for two Covid Bounce Back Loans to the tune of £98,000. However, Walker gave false information in her applications by claiming for a bakery businesses which had only been in operation for two weeks and therefore wasn’t entitled to any money under the scheme. She will now be subject to 12 years of financial and business sanctions which mean she cannot serve as a company director without permission from the court or borrow more than £500 without declaring the offence.

Burning up 🔥 A worrying piece in Now Then reports that zero fines were issued in Sheffield for dangerous home wood-burning between September 2023 and August 2024, despite hundreds of complaints. A transparency request submitted by campaign group Mums For Lungs shows that in this period, 208 complaints were made to Sheffield City Council, who issued 135 warning letters but no fines. Home wood-burning is now the leading source of air pollution in UK cities, overtaking motor vehicles, and studies have shown it can be several times worse for human health than cigarettes or the emissions from HGVs.

T-shirt trouble  🇵🇸 A member of the Virgin Active gym in Nether Edge has complained after he was banned from wearing a “Free Palestine” t-shirt. Jasvinder Khosa, 64, has worn the t-shirt, which also has the words “Boycott Israel”, a pram and a missile on the back, for five years, but on 15 January was asked to remove it. He told the BBC he was "strongly against" Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories, but hadn’t wanted to "upset" people. Virgin Active's rules state that users "must be dressed in suitable attire at all times when on club premises" and "the Club General Manager may, at his/her/their discretion, require you to leave a Club or part of a Club premises, if your attire is not considered suitable".

The weekly Whitworth ✏️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on whether Fargate can mount an Oasis-style comeback after its multi-million-pound regeneration.

This week’s weather 🌥️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say the start to the week will be unsettled, with rain or blustery showers. Brighter from midweek, with the risk of overnight frosts returning.

Monday 🌦 Plenty of bright weather, but also the risk of one or two blustery showers. Gusty winds from the south-southwest, with highs of 7°C.

Tuesday ☂ Intermittent light rain or drizzle, amidst largely cloudy skies. Lighter winds aiding the potential for mist over the hills. Highs of 8°C.

Wednesday ⛅ Brighter and drier with some sunshine. Moderate breezes from the west-northwest with a low frost risk overnight. Highs of 8°C.

Thursday ☀ Good spells of sunshine throughout, though feeling chilly in the NW breeze. Frost and ice risk overnight with the odd wintry shower. Highs of 6°C.

Friday 🌥 Chance of early rain or sleet, but generally another dry and bright day expected. Moderate SW winds with highs of 8°C.

Outlook: West to southwest pattern for the weekend, with a good deal of dry weather. Chance of showers, with temperatures close to average.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Home of the week 🏡

The Citu homes in Kelham Island might not be to everyone's taste, but here at The Tribune we think they’re pretty cool. This two double-bedroomed duplex apartment in the Little Kelham development has a range of eco features including electric heating and triple-glazed windows. Outside it has a decked area to the front and a fully enclosed patio to the rear. It is on the market for £240,000.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please get in touch with us by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are happy to speak to people off the record, and we guarantee we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Film 🍿 You’ll have to be quick but this evening at Crookes Social Club, join Reel Cult for a special screening of David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. As well as the film, there will also be a raffle, with lots of Twin Peaks-themed prizes up for grabs. Coming just a few weeks after the legendary director’s death, the evening will be a chance to celebrate the life of a cinematic giant. Tickets are £5 (£6.20 with a raffle ticket) and doors open at 6.30pm. 

Art 🖼️ Derrick Greaves is one of the most acclaimed British artists of the last half-century. The Sheffield-born painter gained recognition in the 1950s along with the other 'Kitchen-Sink' painters with whom he was associated. Later his work developed into a more heraldic style that paralleled 1960s Pop Art. On from now at the Graves Gallery, Art Worlds presents 20 paintings made between 1942 and 2021, alongside drawings, photographs and more.

Music 🎤 To Yellow Arch Studios on Wednesday comes Du Blonde, described by Our Favourite Places as “the fiery, fearless rock project of musician, composer, animator, and video director Beth Jeans Houghton”. Du Blonde have just released their fourth album, Sniff More Gritty, a record that “takes aim at past loves and record industry execs through a soundscape of glam-rock, punk and pop”. Tickets are £15 and doors open at 7.30pm.