It is catch 22.
But as chilli says how can ATCO's second guess the state of the aircraft when the new ones have next to no experence in the air.
By second guessing you are removing the PIC from the loop.
Pilots don't declare emergency situations because they feel that the dispatch of emergency services isn't justified for thier particular problem. Most Atco's dispatch the emergency services due to the knowledge that pilots are often reluctant to declare a formal emergency.
But getting met by the Fire chief, OPerations Manager and Local police man is not the way to get Pilots to admit to ATC that they have a small problem. If anything through rumour control it will only make it worse. And maybe why its getting worse.
Its up to the PIC to decide if its an emergency. If you want to put a local standby on fine. But tell them and don't have the full fire service charging down the runway after them unless they know.
The first time it happend I nearly went around because i thought I had missed a call or I was trying to land at the wrong airport because it looked like an emergency on going.
Local standbys are good. Not full blown responces unrequested
MJ