COVENTRY

[Leofric]

Leofric You also seem to think Warwick District council are now the problem because they are the planning authority. Please explain that one for me. As far as I know, the airport has no current planning applications, so i fail to see the relevance.

I was trying to point out that Coventry have been consistently supportive of the airport and that it's problems were with Warwick DC. I agree I should have put that in the past tense referring to the terminal planning application. Sir Peter apparently said to the tenants that his talks with WDC had be "reasonable".

[WindSwept]

Leofric You also seem to think Warwick District council are now the problem because they are the planning authority. Please explain that one for me. As far as I know, the airport has no current planning applications, so i fail to see the relevance.

Warwick district council are a big problem with the airport. Just because it hasn't got any current planning applications in, does not mean they don't play a huge part in it.

They were a big part of the reason the first deal fell through and i would suspect a large part of the reason why Sir P is taking so long to make his mind up. He is clearly very passionate about getting involved even if it means sacrificing some of his buisness sense to just walk away. The Swiss firm had plenty of money and were willing to use it on Coventry and accept a loss for several years, their beef was that they couldn't do anything with the airport, they were told time and again any planning there would be rejected and they would have to spend millions trying to appeal it. They, with their buisness head on, most likely decided it wasn't worth the time, effort, or money to continue with negotiations with people who wern't going to make life easy for them, so they went elsewhere to spend their money.

Sir P faces the same problem. As was said, coventry needs someone who's willing to lose a couple of million on it to get it up and going again and be prepared to be in it for the long haul. Now no person with money (the buisnessmen/women) are going to invest those millions of pounds if they can't get any return or do anything with their investment. Sir P wants to build things, he wants to develop things and do stuff like any decent buisnessmen. If he can't get some gurantees that he can do something with the airport then he would be just throwing his money down a toilet.

So yes i think Warwks do have alot to answer for. It may not be the only issues, but its certinally been one in the past and likely to still be one now.

[lawnmowerman]

A few inquiries today reveal to me that Sir P is after some sort of guarantee that he is going to get planning permission and be allowed to build on this additional land that he wants as part of the deal - ie the rugby club, air museum and railway sidings. Problem is the land is green belt and is therefore protected by planning policies which cannot easily be overturned on a nod and a wink in a smoky room deal (however much WDC support the application), so the guarantees are not forthcoming.
So Sir P potentially has negotiated from CCC a loss making airport and some nearly valueless plots of land next to the airport

[call100]

If the airport had got permission and built a 2 million capacity terminal they would have been in exactly the same position as they are now but the debts would have been far higher. The dream that the terminal would have somehow saved them or that the lack of permission closed it is way off the mark.
Large established airports are making heavy losses at the moment. CVT would never have survived this far anyway......
Why CVT would want anything bigger than is being proposed is beyond me. The days of milk and honey airports are well and truly over....

[Chugaboom]

Well Jenny, I believe in Father Christmas, well more than your sincerity.

I have my own sources on Coventry, so dont need Nav 3 nor your goodself to speculate for me.

I dont doubt what you write, I just dont like the pomposity and smugness of your posts in light of the the airports struggles, especially as many people have sadly lost their jobs or are facing an uncertain future.

Coventry is local to me, and i hope it survives, goodness knows how it relates to you in london village, but you seem to take greast satisfaction in its demise.

Nice to see you are covering all bases by now suggesting you think Sir Peter will take it over. With a u-turn like that you should be in politics

[JennyB]

Chugaboom,

Where have I said that it won't be taken over by Sir Peter Rigby?

However as I said previously, for many of the tenants there it may not be as good as they had before, unsurprising as he will not wish to withstand the losses that previous owners have had to suffer.

Have my own sources too, and understand that it will be all complete and open by next week.

No Marshall's involvement though, so likely to be quite some time before it's open as a licenced airfield.

[learjet50]

What happens when Sir Peter Rigby Pulls Out ??


Too many dreamers on this thread sorry to say BiBi EGBE


Sorry to spread gloom and doom but I dont think I m too far away from the truth

[fear and loathing]

I have to say i find this thread quite amusing, as someone who worked there until december I still hear bits and pieces on the grapevine and i'm pretty sure cov will re-open but with alot of changes, I dont think cvt will be the gravey train it used to be. I also think to some extent its a good thing that sir peter is taking his time at least if he goes through with it we know he's had plenty of chances to pull out so he's probably in for the long hall.
And to you guys who seem desperate for the airport to fail, I really dont know what your problem is, cvt was a great little airport with a great bunch of highly skilled staff. surely it can only be a good thing if re-opens even if gets some of the old staff or even new staff back into work and secures some of the small businesses up there!!!

fear and loathing

[Alvechurch]

Sir Peter Rigby is no mug. The fact that to be persuaded to buy Coventry Airport he needs 'extras' such as access to adjoining land with property development potential seems to indicate that perhaps the airport is not actually a long term viable business as far as he is concerned.
If the Council does cave in and lets him have the adjoining land with the appropriate planning permissions, there is bound to be a clause in any contract which lets him close CVT after an agreed time if it is still losing money yet still leave him owning some valuable and strategic acreage.
If he's really smart he will surely insist on writing in a provision that as airport owner, he gets first crack at developing the land occupied by the airport itself in the event of permanent closure.

[jamesp]

change the subject for just one minute, on may 11 mid morning an raf nimrod is arriving to classic flight. it seems they're opening an airbase at coventry, where all the usual vintage aircraft as well as the dc3's/6's and the nimrod. ( ref :- flybhx forum (under cvt movements) and classic flight website ).

[learjet50]

Well another week starts in the on going saga of the sale of Coventry Airport.

I Not in the times Rich List today Sir Peter is only worth 430 million pounds,Surely thats not enough to Buy the Airport .

Unless he wants to be worth 420 million next year I dont think he will be buying until he gets all he wants with the extra Land/Planning permission.

I do hope this matter will be resolved soon because it getting a bit long and drawn out for everbody concerned.

[flyingbricksh]

not if he wants to be worth 430m next year

Learjet 50

interesting thought , but with that sort of cash just occaisionaly a loss leader is needed so that they can right proffits off against thier tax bill , so all of a sudden in the grand scheme of things he may be saving millions whilst only loosing tens of thousands!

personaly though, I don't have that sort of cash so it would be pure rumour on my part to speculate...

[penelope]

how long can this go on

Hello everyone
is anyone getting bored with CVT thread yet?
Garden Centre? Shopping Mall, Theme Park, Golf Course, 2012 Olympic Stadium, Tropical Resort, Marina, to name but a few?
Still its all very interesing whats coming next do you think?
Love Penny
XXX

[niknak]

Penny

Don't worry your precious little head about it.

Go and buy something sparkly and shiney from a boutique in Brighton and leave those who are hoping that some form of employment from the resurrection or redevelopment of Coventry will pay their mortgage.

[fear and loathing]

Dunno pretty bored of you though!!!!

[Chugaboom]

Just Bored of You Penny

Ah Penny, with over 100 pages on this topic people clearly arent bored of it, just of your random ramblings.
If its clearly not to your taste, dont read it or post

Why not go for a walk on the seafront to clear your mind, as I cant understand your waffle anyway.

[Trout99uk]

Well its just been on the local news that the deal has gone through, and the Man himself said he would like to see pasenger services resume some time in the future. Good luck to all concerned.

[Dawdler]

I saw that too. Sir P did indicate that passengers services were something that he aspired to but not for some time. Typically the headline of the piece on the Beeb was "Passenger Flights could be returning to Coventry Airport" It would seem the old adage "Don't let the truth spoil a good story" is alive and well at the Mailbox.

[tunalic2]

I wish it would hurry up and reopen
a city the size of Coventry needs an airport and if a few pax want to fly from there again in the future perhaps a small facility could be built on land not controlled by wac.
I feel sorry for the business's that were based there and had it closed around them
T2

[Nimrod6]

Reopening

Is there any genuine press release or news story available to read to confirm that the deal has indeed gone through? I can't see anything on t'interweb