Bromley Council are probably the most difficult council to deal with in the country - I speak from experience. They will never allow Biggin to go commercial/schedule, that has been tried many times over many many years and I can go back to 1980! There were others before that too.
The locals in the Valley were continually vociferous with their anti-Biggin-itis. Many, and I mean many, moved there knowing full well what to expect and then simply joined the ban brigade. Support by the council has never been in favour of any kind of growth on the airfield, although some has taken place for smaller businesses. Now it has grown even larger by development so there are too many locals in a larger area who would not vote for any councillor who supported the airfield - they would lose their seats.
Biggin has NO future. It goes on as it is or it dies. Ultimately I think it will be the latter. Chasing rainbows at Biggin is a lost cause.
Many firms have thrown money at Biggin in the hope they could win the hearts and minds of the locals but it was just a waste. The idea that the Council would judge a proposed service from Biggin on a case by case basis has, to my knowledge, been a loser. An arrangement such as that has no hope of getting past the council. Bromley Council had to buy the airfield but I, and many others, have always said that they would contrive one day to turn it into a housing development. It is probably because of the lousy transport system between Biggin and Bromley South that they have not been able to do it sooner. Who knows? One day they might extend the tram system from Addington to Biggin if they do close it down. People would demand a better system too.
Biggin has ALWAYS had it advantages but no one, not one, has been able to exploit them because of the intransigence of the council towards any kind of air traffic growth. As we speak there are limitations on that. It is only a question of time before the hammer falls.