Originally Posted by
chevvron
Not just a shame it's bl...y disgusting, especially when as will inevitably happen, GA gets 'squeezed out' of DSA.
If Doncaster council had kept their own airport (near the racecourse) it would have made things a lot easier, and I bet one of the reasons they cited for closing it was the forthcoming development of Sheffield City, so as usual, the only winners will be the developers.
With Sheffield Utd being in the premiership, and many visiting teams now flying to away matches, surely City would be an asset to be proud of, not just another brownfield site to be developed on. (which is how it started).
The reason Donny Council shut Doncaster Airfield was to build a leisure centre on the land and to expand the racecourse facilities - both of which gave a far better return and more facilities to the ratepayers of Doncaster than a piddling little airfield of no consequence.
Doncaster Aero Club had ample opportunity to move to a number of sites, Sandoft being one of them, but flying club commitees being what they are, they couldnt agree which day of the week it was, never mind what was best for the members - consequently they closed down.
Many of you seem to not know or conveniently forget the origins of Sheffield City Airport - Budge Mining Developed it out of an enormous slag heap which was a consequence of an adjacent mining enterprise. Thereafter, through the work of Sheffield City Council, millions of £s in EEC grants were obtained to develop it.
Subsequently it was supported by the ratepayers of Sheffield and Yorkshire until Peel came along and offered to run it at their own expense for a fixed term period.
Everyone in in Sheffield and the local authority knew that this coincided with their investment and opening date of Robin Hood, thereafter Sheffield City Airport would return to the ownership of the Sheffield City Council.
Why should the tax/rate payers support an airport which has no prospect of ever giving them, or has been very well proven, never given any of the operators who have ever operated from there, a viable service or return?