Teesside Airshow: Wait goes on for final report into 'failing' traffic debacle

Officials said they expected Teesside Airport director Phil Forster to produce his investigation into the traffic debacle in a matter of days at the start of last week.

But it’s understood minutes from another public safety advisory group are being awaited before the final report is released.

Planning for the event saw 5,600 parking spaces set aside – with the event and traffic management plan earmarking an extra 1,900 as a contingency.

Read more: Teesside Airshow: Probe into traffic to be released 'in days'

However, the network simply couldn’t cope with the volume of traffic on the day – leaving drivers stuck in queues for several hours, and some forced to watch the Red Arrows from the roadside.

Documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows how an organiser, a Durham Police official, and officials from Darlington and Stockton Councils all discussed traffic management for the airshow at a safety meeting in March.

The organiser confirmed the traffic plans would “reflect those from 2016” – with no extra public transport put on, parking tickets purchased in advance or at the gate, and stewards “briefed to keep traffic flowing”.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and organisers Skylive Air both apologised for the delays and troubles people faced at the airshow.

The queuing traffic leading to Teesside Airshow. Picture: BBC

Chris Petty, from Skylive Air, had hoped more information on refunds would be released following the findings of the investigation.

He also confirmed the firm would co-operate fully with Mr Forster’s review – which he added would be made public.

The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) put £100,000 towards the airshow – with £20,000 put towards the event initially cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020, and £80,000 granted from its culture and tourism budget.

Officials also said the organisers paid £50,000 to hold the event at publicly-owned Teesside Airport.

Asked a raft of questions on what had gone wrong, the TVCA said it was not involved in the organisation or the running of the event and would work with partners.

People abandoned their vehicles on the way to the Airshow. Picture: JIM SCOTT

Jemma Joy, chair of Redcar Liberal Democrats, has written an open letter to the mayor asking why the event didn’t address traffic issues and environmental concerns.

She added: “Not only did the air show manage to generate tons of damaging CO2 into our atmosphere from the unnecessary aircraft on display, the event burned up further emissions with thousands of car journeys.

And to add insult to injury, the majority of these were hours of wasted fuel for families. In short, an utterly avoidable disaster.

“A quick 10-minute Google points to other public air shows which successfully delivered an enjoyable day watching aircraft skills with a plan for carbon offsetting to redress the balance and soothe the damage done to the environment.

Not difficult, not expensive and would have been appreciated by visitors and human beings living on planet Earth.”

In response, the mayor’s office said they would await the outcome of the investigation due to be published on Monday.

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