LET'S GET TO THE REAL ISSUE
These issues are going to continue until the basic flaw in the system is fixed - OAR has no place in CASA. The original recommendation from the AERU was that the office be embedded in the Department as it was more policy related than safety. If I remember correctly the recommendation was preceded by a statement along the lines of "..airspace is a non renewable national resource and should be managed as such in a strategic sense.".. That recommendation drew very strong push back from both CASA and Airservices and history tells us the result.
When the original OAR chief was announced two of the very obvious candidates (both Australian and both with considerable experience in the airspace policy business) were harangued by a (then and still now) senior bureaucrat in the Department because he thought they had not applied. Speaking to both of them later I came to understand that they had both applied but had been deleted from the list by the head hunters in the first pass before that list was passed to those charged with making the selection. "Why", , you may ask. The rumour is that the headhunters were "advised" by a very prominent Australian aviation personality that the head of OAR should not be an Australian and that an international candidate should be selected to ensure past history was not carried forward.
I have to agree with TIEW seven aircraft in a circuit area is not coming even close to busy.
Gne