Admittedly my initial posting on this thread was a trifle harsh, for which I apologise, but it symbolised the growing frustration at some of the comments coming in this thread.
I perfectly support the right to fly...some of the best times I had at school were being thrown around the sky in a Bulldog from Benson (and Mu Beta that could give you a clue as to my social background....is it not you who has the chip on his shoulder by labelling every political debate as some form of "class warfare"?)
However, we now live in 2005 and you must face the facts. Money talks. This is not about being "allowed" to fly at a "reasonable" price because such "freedom" implies a subsidy coming from somebody at some point. This is about NAC paying its way at EGNT. The airfield is getting busier and the "cost" of GA in overall terms outweighs the benefits that derive from monetary terms....especially seeing as NAC is so much in debt. Finally, perhaps if NAC had not been so chronically mismanaged NIAL may have looked more favourably upon a loss-making concern. Why has Parkin never been invited over to NAC? Someone suggested that the first thing NAC should have done was to take him for a spin and give him a pint....hardly a better way to get him on side than that? But when you have a mistrust of someone it clouds your entire actions until it's too late.
Personally, of all the clubs I am a member of, the committees are held to account by the members and the accounts are signed off annually by auditors. Surely with the membership demographic (ABC1) it would be reasonable to expect someone to have realised the club was heading south?
And as for invoking the 'public' ownership of NIAL, that won't get you anywhere. Private shareholders in a PPP go through extensive due dilligence to enshrine non-interference by local government. In any case, local councils have police, education, hospitals and countless other things to worry about other than wealthy (in the North East, if you can afford private flying lessons, you are "loaded" compared to the majority of the population) people who have lost their toy.
Finally, I don't work for NIAL, but if you have any doubts about their commitment to the well-being of the community take a look at what they're doing at Newcastle Aviation Academy.