When the ATC was here
I recall going to the meetings and the arguments when ATC was removed from Ardmore.
Airways - Providing an ATC service is going to cost $1.2 million NZD per year. The government will not fund it as user pays i.e. at the current number of movements each aircraft will pay 6 dollars per movement for a single shift operation. It will cost more if you want to have a double shift to cover 0730 to 1800. If the number of movements reduces then the cost will have to rise to cover the annual bill. (With inflation I suspect that the fee would be in the order of $12 today for ATC add that to the landing fee at Ardmore of $18.20 for a C182 an you are looking at over $30 per movement, with the same traffic as 1988. Since then Ardmore has lost Flightline/Massey, Waitemata AC, Simuflight/CTC, plus a few smaller operators) Airways can provide a Flight Service and the cost for that will be $800,000 for a single shift or $1.2 for a double shift.
CAA - We can mandate a service requirement but the users will have to pay the full cost of any service we mandate. CAA will not and cannot fund an ATC operation.
Ardmore users - We cannot pay for an ATC service on a full cost plus basis, if safety of the Airfield Operation is a public concern then the public can help with a proportion of the costs. The service we have now is so poor that we will not pay to be limited to only 8 aircraft in the circuit because the tower cannot cope. (In the days of Howard M and Peter LJ in the tower at Ardmore it was common to have 18 in the circuit plus departures on the cross runway, gliders on the "glider grass" and meat bombing to the center field. Even remember once being number 23 to land).
As a continuous user of Ardmore since 1976 and still going; the loss of ATC does not concern me greatly, however a Flight Service at Ardmore would help keep the "A cat" bullies in check or at least exposed to a neutral ref. I do lament the loss of the Flight Service at PP, TU, WU, HK and AP (Can live with out it at KT, WR, WK, OU).
If a Flight Service is for the public good and the public are willing to share the cost then I am willing to pay my share for a service.