Danscowpie
Not tosh at all. Oxford can operate the service they want to with 6 ATCOs. Oxford will know exactly what fee paying flights there will be, and when. They can tailor services as per requirements quite legally; to quote you 'subject to unit constraints'.
There are many other small airports that operate this way, opening and closing radar, SRATCOH does not become an issue.
The owners of Oxford have big plans for the airfield; in the short term it will cost a lot of money but if their plans come to fruition then they should recoup it. They are in it for the long term, not some fly-by-night operation.
£90k for providing LARS is a tiny amount of money (and does not even get near to covering the ATCOs wages to provide the service hours you quote required to get that money), though obviously any income helps, in this case it would be a false economy. Money from LARS is usually an extra income brought about by using ATCOs already in the system... it is certainly not a viable commercial operation to train and pay ATCOs to give an 11 hours per day 7 days a week service.
The owners of the airfield are not exactly short of a penny or two...
soaringhhigh650
I think it's time for people to stop thinking about about "CAT airspace" or "GA airspace" or "Military airspace". Airspace is to be shared and used by all.
irrespective of what you think, there is class A airspace in the UK where VFR flight is not permitted. Due to requirements for the Olympics, Class G airspace can be re-classified without consultation by HMG decree for a limited period. This is what happened in the Oxford area, but as stated, a different way to deal with that particular traffic has been found thus the airspace will no longer be required, hence the phrase 'handed back'.