I've been informed that most of the airfield, fixtures and fittings (ILS, Radar, ATC Equipment) are still owned by the Council and were leased to the previous owners.
Allegedly this is the difficulty with any new investors, the Council want to retain ownership and lease out the facilities.
If that is the case, no one is going to be interested in investing if they can't develop or even sell surplus land.
Something's got to give.