Straight Talking
No spin, no jargon — just honest opinion and updates on what's happening in Conisbrough, Doncaster, and beyond.
An Open Letter to Mark Chadwick on DSA
Responding to #saveDSA on the £57 million loan, the Superior Lease, and what councillors were and weren't shown before voting.
The lease the councillors did not see
Elected members approved £57 million of borrowing without having read the contract that would determine whether the airport could operate, what rent the council would pay, on what terms the landlord could walk away, and with what consequences for the taxpayer if passenger numbers fell short.
I want Doncaster Sheffield Airport open. That's exactly why I'm calling time on this deal.
When Oliver Coppard starts writing attack posts about Doncaster councillors, you know the argument isn't going well. Labour has wheeled out the big guns because the substance isn't there. So let's deal with the substance.
What the council told the Land Registry
On 19 August 2024, the City of Doncaster Council lodged a Land Registry search certifying its intended purchase of a commercial building. It had not agreed to buy it.
The passenger number behind the £57 million
Councillors approved £57 million of borrowing on a passenger forecast of 2.5 million a year. The council's own later modelling shows 1.1 million. The regulator's forecast is 1.16 million. Only one of those numbers was in front of members on the night of the vote.
A letter to Doncaster's MPs
On 10 April 2026, the Leader of Reform UK Doncaster wrote to four MPs. The letter set out the case for rescinding the council's £57 million airport borrowing of November 2025 and invited them to test it for themselves.
How £9.3 million became zero
The headline figure in Doncaster Council's Q3 Finance report is a year-end forecast of zero net overspend. The figure beneath it is £9.3 million. The gap between the two is not a saving.