Because GA pilot groups sat around and said nothing, so nothing was done....?
And surely you were not surprised?
On issues such as this it is as much the governments resposibility to decide whether to protect minority interests because usually they are the least able to protect themselves. Rarely can ga have a hope in hell of taking on the enormously well funded machinery of other lobbyists.
Either we want a centrally funded regional infrastructure of airports which incidentally are unlikely to ever be able to fund themselves with the current framework or we dont.