It is the same deal with taxes. Raise tax RATES and tax REVENUES drop. I dunno why those in power can't see this...
Oh wait, yes I do (with regards to an airfield). I guess if an airfield owner can show the local council that traffic has dropped, and it is no longer viable as an airfield, then they are more likely to get change of use to a 500 house housing estate (and hence it is suddenly worth a lot more as land).......
Airfields should be protected by law, as once they are gone, they are not coming back. Look at the SW of England, airfields are disappearing at an alarming rate, Plymouth being the prime example.. The MoD are also shutting bases around the country and soon all we'll have left is Heathrow.
Perhaps the military should co-exist with GA and CAT on many airfields with the funding split. Would be cheaper for the government than running expensive military airfields which are mostly empty at weekends but more importantly the airfields would remain open and available to us and you could use service personnel for ATC services who otherwise would be drinking tea (but still being paid by HM). During the Navy holidays, places like Yeovilton are shut for weeks. What a waste....(well actually we use it, so it is not all wasted
)....The government could issue grants to private airfield owners to accept military traffic to make it viable to keep them open.
Many airfield in the rest of the world are like this....Bodo in Norway is a good example, F16s on one side of the runway, 737s on the other side. RNAS Shoreham or Plymouth?!
