up to £30m to be reinvested back into the airport under a 'Section 106' agreement. This resulted in heavy opposition from the local public who misinterpreted the development as being at the expense of the airport, which had long been the subject of a conspiracy theory claiming the facility was being deliberately run down for closure. The houses were located on land too far removed from the existing airport infrastructure to be used for aviation development, and outline planning permission was received on 29 March 2017. On 18 May 2017, Durham Tees Valley Airport announced significant investment to the airport's terminal facilities. Alongside extensive renovations in the departures area, improved retail services were introduced under the new in-house 'Xpress' brand. The first phase of investment was completed in September 2017, with the second phase starting in Autumn 2017. The airport's Privilege Membership Club also faced improvements for passenger service upgrades. Later in May 2017, Durham Tees Valley Airport also introduced a new in-house ground handling service called Consort Aviation. Ground handling services are provided for general aviation, cargo and military aircraft. During November 2017, the airport launched its Flying For The Future campaign to try and build support towards the airport and encourage more people to use the facility. 2018 takeover On 4 December 2018, the Mayor of the Tees Valley Ben Houchen announced a £40 million deal had been agreed to buy Peel Airport's 89% majority shareholding in Durham Tees Valley Airport (made up of £35m for the airport and £5m for land with planning permission for 350 houses) which if approved would bring the airport back into public ownership for the first time since it was sold to Peel in 2003. Purchasing the airport was Houchen's primary election pledge in his campaign in the 2017 Tees Valley mayoral election. The deal would be completed subject to ratification from the leaders of the five local authorities that made up the Tees Valley Combined Authority who were to vote on the deal in January 2019 at a purpose emergency TVCA meeting called by the Mayor. An established airport operator thought to be the Stobart Aviation had been lined up to run the facility. Should the Mayor's plan to buy back the airport be approved by TVCA, Houchen said he planned to give local residents the opportunity to decide whether to change the airport's name back to Teesside International Airport. An