airborne artist,
the reasons given are a) hants is a big county b) endurance (loads of people kept awake at night longer by it now) c) carry more equipment d) allegedly cheaper than RW (not convinced on that one)
As for operating at SOU - no space available + noise complaints would increase considerably.
Flybmi - yes the restrictions imposed by Police are somewhat draconian. Not sure if the latest are there but currently if you wish to fly at weekends you must be away by 10am and not allowed to return before 5pm. The gates / fence are a hazard as well - several aircraft have hit these. Woe betide anybody who infringes these rules unless a guest of the Police (see website)
There are pleanty of airfields which mix GA/gliding etc safely but convincing people of that is proving impossible.