Outrage over airport snub
Durham Tees Valley airport wanted £4.6m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to help create an overall investment of £46.5m.
If approved, it would have meant a new access road on the south side of the airport and could also have led to 1,400 new jobs over the next ten years.
But for the second time their multi-million pound bid was recently rejected, sparking anger from Hartlepool councillors at a recent meeting.
It was agreed at the meeting of full council to write to Mr Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, about the funding blow.
Labour councillor Robbie Payne, chairman of the council’s regeneration committee, asked for council backing to write a letter.
Coun Payne said: “We should be writing to Vince Cable about Durham Tees Valley missing out again.
“The decision has not only put our region at a disadvantage but makes Durham Tees Valley more unsustainable.
“We should write and express our disgust.”
Members agreed to send a letter to Government.
Airport chiefs have also expressed their disappointment after the funding bid was rejected last month.
The Southside development would bring other benefits, including new facilities for the on-site SERCO International Fire Training Centre, possible expansion for the aircraft recycling facility, and provision of up to two million sq ft of high-quality business and logistics space.
But RGF officials did not include the bid among their 102 successful projects.
Speaking last month, Peter Nears, strategic planning director with the Peel Group which owns the airport, said: “We believe that we made a very strong case for a project which could be of enormous benefit to both the airport and the area as a whole.”
Despite the blow to the airport’s funding bid, there was good news for Hartlepool company JDR Cables, which was one of only six Tees Valley winners. As previously reported, overall, the Tees Valley award will create nearly 300 jobs and £146m of private investment.
http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/outrage-over-airport-snub-1-5918339
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Some earlier news about Durham Tees Valley airport:
Airport bids to turn car park into caravan storage site
12.3.2013 As the airport has had such a large drop in numbers in recent years, it has applied to turn part of its long-stay car park into a storage area for caravans in a bid to generate income. The decline means that a large part of the airport’s long stay car park has become surplus to requirements, with a large section cordoned off and left unused. The airport’s owner, Peel Holdings, has now applied to Darlington Borough Council to change a 1.7 hectare section of the car park – more than 900 spaces – into a storage area for caravans, motorhomes and other vehicles for the next three years. Click here to view full story ….
Plan revealed to dismantle planes at Durham Tees Valley Airport
February 20, 2013 Durham Tees Valley Airport is set to become a centre for the storage and dismantling of unused planes, and recycling parts. Sycamore Aviation has set up its base at the struggling airport and has already begun work on taking apart a number of airliners. The airport has a long runway, enabling it to handle larger planes, and plenty of hangar space. There are apparently “huge numbers” of aircraft retiring across Europe. A Sycamore Aviation spokesman said one airline alone is likely to need to dispose of 20 jumbo jets and 20 Boeing 737 aircraft in the next 3 -4 years – an illustration of the potential scale of demand. They say that across Europe between 500 to 700 aircraft a year need to be decommissioned and currently there are just not enough facilities to meet the demand. The number of passengers using Durham Tees Valley airport has fallen steadily from around 912,000 in 2006 to 165,000 in 2012. Click here to view full story…
Bosses at Durham Tees Valley Airport express “acute disappointment” at bid failure
19.10.2012 AIRPORT bosses expressed their “acute disappointment” at the Government’s decision to reject a bid for regeneration cash. However, Durham they said they remained committed to the Southside freight terminal development – despite the failure of the £5.9m Regional Growth Fund (RGF) application. DTVA chairman Robert Hough said the company would be demanding an explanation from ministers after the RGF bid was turned down. “It was hoped the £5.9m scheme, which would take ten years to complete and create up to 1,500 jobs, could breathe new life into the airport, which was close to going out of business last year amid falling passenger numbers.” Click here to view full story …
Government orders research into regional rate for air passenger duty
June 20, 2012 Chloe Smith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, has said – at a meeting with the Sedgefield MP and Newcastle airport and Durham Tees Valley airport – that the Government has commissioned research into varying APD on a regional basis. The research, planned to be published this summer, will consider the potential impact of a regional APD rate as well as devolving the power to set the tax north of the border to the Scottish Government. There has been a campaign in the region, by the Journal newspaper, to get APD changed, claiming it has adverse economic consequences. Newcastle Airport wants APD to be charged at a higher rate at the biggest, most congested airports (south east), and a lower rate from uncongested regional airports. Click here to view full story…
Durham Tees Valley airport applying to Regional Growth Fund for freight distribution centre
May 26, 2012 An expansion plan is being drawn up for loss-making Durham Tees Valley Airport and will be handed to the Government within weeks. The airport is preparing a bid to the regional growth fund to develop a 250-acre south side of the airport, for freight services/distribution (does not say whether any air freight is included). The application will include a new internal road, installing gas, electricity and drainage connection, and perhaps new buildings. Peel Holdings Ltd, the airport’s owner (owns 80%), has to submit the bid to the £1bn fund by the deadline of June 13th. There has been an 80% fall in the number of passengers since 2006, from 912,000 down to 190,000 in 2011. The focus on freight confirms the expectation the airport will find it difficult to increase passenger numbers. However, their airport’s air freight tonnage has plummeted to almost nothing in the past two years Click here to view full story…
Durham Tees Valley campaign to ship travellers over to Amsterdam for connections
5.5.2012 Durham Tees Valley airport is running a publicity campaign with KLM, to let people know “The World’s on Your Doorstep”. The local authority, Hartlepool Borough Council is also backing it. The aim is to promote the KLM flights (3 per day) to Amsterdam, and then all the other destinations that can be reached from Amsterdam. The Air France/KLM group operates flights from 14 cities in the UK to their hubs in Paris and Amsterdam. There are flights each day to Heathrow from Newcastle airport, which is only about 35 miles from Durham Tees Valley airport. http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/airport-campaign-1-4518265
Durham Tees Valley airport lobby to get Public Service Obligation route to London
March 15, 2012 Phil Wilson, the Labour MP for Sedgefield, will table an amendment to legislation currently before MPs to require airlines to maintain routes if investment and jobs depend on it. He wants to revive air links to London from regional airports such as struggling Durham Tees Valley. The idea will also be put to Aviation Minister Theresa Villiers when a delegation, led by Mr Wilson, meets her on April 24, to discuss the Durham Tees Valley Airport problems. He wants the committee considering the Civil Aviation Bill to examine the possibility of a clause, which would require an obligation to continue to fly because of the impact on the Tees Valley of withdrawing flights to London. Click here to view full story…
Owner of airport seeks help from MPs
17th February 2012 (Northern Echo) The new owner of Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) has sought the help of politicians to secure a long-term future for the business. The Peel Group has lobbied Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle and Louise Ellman MP, chairwoman of the Commons Transport Select Committee, about the importance of the airport to the local economy. Peter Nears, Peel’s strategic planning director, has also begun a round of meetings with the area’s MPs. Six Tees Valley councils own a minority share in the airport. Mrs Ellman said it was important that the role of regional airports in promoting employment was recognised. Click here to view full story ….
Durham Tees Valley Airport’s future secured by takeover by Peel Investments
February 12, 2012 Previous owners Peel Airports has sold its 75% majority share-holding in the airport to Peel Investments (DTVA). So the airport can continue in business and get over its current crisis. Peel Airports is 65% owned by Vantage Airport Group (formerly Vancouver Airport Services) and 35% by The Peel Group. Peel Investments is now the majority shareholder in the airport, with the rest of the shareholding (25%) continuing to be owned by the six local authorities, including Hartlepool Borough Council. Peel Airports Limited, (as different part of the Peel Group) continues to be a major shareholder in Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster. Durham Tees Valley airport had less than 22% the number of passengers in 2011 as it had in 2006. Click here to view full story…
Buyer sought for nose-diving Durham Tees Valley Airport
December 16, 2011 Peel Airports has put their 75% stake of the airport up for sale, as it is losing money had too few passengers. Most airports have seen a drop in traffic, but for Durham Tees Valley it’s been more of a nose-dive than a controlled descent. In 2006, more than 900,000 passengers passed through its doors. This year that will have come down to 200,000. The recession has hit and airlines have also increasingly deserted Durham Tees Valley for the safety of bigger airports. Click here to view full story…
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