By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
There are calls for more urgency in efforts to turn around Gloucestershire Airport’s fortune amid fears it is costing taxpayers’ £2.7m a year.
The planned sale of the Staverton airport fell through last month after months of negotiations.
The 375-acre site is jointly-owned by Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council.
And council chiefs said their focus has now shifted to supporting the businesses based at Gloucestershire Airport.
But opposition councillors at the City Council are extremely concerned about how much taxpayers’ money is being lost there.
Labour group leader Terry Pullen said he is frustrated about the situation and called for more urgency.
“The bottom line is the airport is losing £2.7million a year,” he told the overview and scrutiny committee meeting on April 27.
“Half of that is for the council tax payers of Gloucester.
“It was the head of place who said at the last meeting, the operation of the airport on a daily basis is down to the management team at Staverton.
“It’s all very well for Gloucester City Council as shareholders.
“They suffer the loss but actually it is the directors at Staverton who are responsible for increasing the income from the airport and looking at how the losses can be reduced.
“There is some serious urgency about this.”
Chairman Andrew Gravells (C, Abbeydale) said they are looking at scrutinising the issue at the June meeting.
Conservative group leader Stephanie Chambers (Quedgeley Fieldcourt) said: “I wanted to emphasize the point that it’s £225,000 a month. That’s what it really is.”
“If we’ve got to [scrutiny] on our own then the airport board are just going to have to do it twice if they have to.”
Gloucestershire Airport’s business will be scrutinised at the meeting on June 1.
A joint scrutiny meeting with Borough Councillors from Cheltenham will be organised for another date in the months to come.