Guys (and gals), having read through the comments here, I cannot believe that people are complaining about the cost of using the AVP.
MAN has an excellent viewing park, and offers genuinely decent opportunities for photography/spotting without being intercepted by the police every few mins. In my book its well worth the money. My local airport for 20 years was Gatwick...spotting facilities were ok while there was a viewing deck on the terminal but you had to pay to use it, and pay to park your car...but MAN is cheaper now than LGW was 15 years ago! (for those that are not aware, there are no viewing facilities whatsoever at Gatwick nowadays).
Be grateful for what you have there...it offers far better views than any official areas at other airports in the UK. And it is good to see parents taking their kids there...thats how many of us started spotting in the first place!
Ken