Bassetlaw Council's Top Finance Officer Calls Doncaster Airport Reopening A 'Key Risk' Days Before Vote

Bassetlaw District Council’s most senior finance officer has publicly questioned the financial assumptions behind the £57 million Doncaster Sheffield Airport reopening, four days before Doncaster councillors decide whether to rescind the loan that underpins the project. Bassetlaw District Council says the post was made in a personal capacity and does not reflect its corporate position.

Who is Michael Wildman, and what is a Section 151 officer?

Michael Wildman is the Executive Director for Corporate Resources at Bassetlaw District Council. He also holds the statutory role of Section 151 officer: under the Local Government Act 1972, every local authority must designate a single named officer with personal legal responsibility for the financial administration of the council. The Section 151 officer is, in plain terms, the council’s most senior finance person, with statutory duties to flag financial decisions they consider unlawful or unsustainable.

Wildman is, in other words, exactly the sort of public servant whose financial assessments carry weight — even when they are made in a personal capacity.

What he said

According to coverage by the Doncaster Free Press and the Yorkshire Post, Wildman used a public LinkedIn comment to set out concerns about the financial exposure of City of Doncaster Council to the airport reopening project. He described the exposure as a key risk.

His central argument, as reported, has two parts:

• That delivering a viable airport operation after closure is materially more complex than maintaining an existing one
• That the passenger and revenue projections underpinning the borrowing are based on scenario modelling rather than due diligence tied to secured airline agreements

This is a meaningful distinction. Scenario modelling is a forecasting exercise; secured airline agreements would be contractual commitments that turn projected demand into booked demand. Wildman’s point, on the public record, is that the council is committing public borrowing on the basis of the former rather than the latter.

Bassetlaw District Council’s response

A spokesperson for Bassetlaw District Council told reporters that Wildman’s post was made in a personal capacity, as a local taxpayer living within the City of Doncaster Council area. The spokesperson added that the council’s official position remains that Doncaster Sheffield Airport is a valuable regional asset that should be protected for our communities.

The distinction is meaningful: the council is publicly maintaining its support for the reopening while not disowning its senior finance officer’s right to comment on a financial matter that personally affects him as a Doncaster Council resident.

Why this matters for the 11 May vote

The Doncaster Council vote on Monday 11 May will decide whether to rescind the £57 million borrowing facility approved in November 2025. Reform UK and Conservative councillors are pushing for the rescission, citing concerns about the lease terms with airport landowner Peel Group. Mayor Ros Jones and the Labour group, supported publicly by Bassetlaw MP Jo White, argue that rescinding would kill the reopening project entirely.

Wildman’s intervention adds a new strand to the public debate going into the vote. His specific point — that the projections are modelled rather than contracted — is the kind of due-diligence question that Reform UK has been pressing on, although Wildman is not a Reform politician and his post is, on the council’s account, a private financial concern from a private individual who happens to be its statutory finance officer.

The figures involved make the question material. Council agenda papers published last week put the council’s quantified future liability at £48.6 million if the project continues, with passenger flights now estimated to return at Easter 2028. The 11 May vote will determine whether that exposure is taken on or written off.

What we are not reporting and why

We have reported what is on the public record: the substance of Wildman’s comment as cited by Doncaster Free Press and Yorkshire Post, and the council’s formal response as carried by those outlets. We have not attempted to quote his post verbatim, and we are not speculating about his motivations or about the political weight that will or will not be given to his comments at Monday’s vote.

Sources: Doncaster Free Press, Yorkshire Post (5–7 May 2026). The 11 May vote will be reported on Worksop Wire. Read our 11 May vote preview and our latest update on the vote agenda papers.