Secret meeting seals sale of airport

From the archive, first published Friday 28th Apr 2006.

The controversial sale of Shoreham Airport has been sealed during a secret meeting.

Members of the Press and public were excluded while councillors effectively handed control of the airport to property specialists the Erinaceous Group.

The authorities involved have refused to say how much Erinaceous had paid for the public asset, owned by Brighton and Hove City Council and Worthing Borough Council.

In October 2005, The Argus revealed Brighton and Hove City Council had placed a £4 million price tag on the historic airport only to be told by the District Auditor it was worth £21 million.

Green councillor Keith Taylor lobbied the city council's chief executive Alan McCarthy to get yesterday's meeting held in public in light of what he described as "significant contract variations" which seem to indicate a lesser price may have been paid for the airport than first agreed.

Yesterday Brighton and Hove City Council refused to reveal the price. A spokesman said: "The bottom line is we can't sell it for less than it's worth, we have no incentive for doing so - and getting the market rate is a legal requirement."

Friday, April 28, 2006

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