Chickenhouse,I would hope that anyone flying close to Southend would be aware of the RMZ, it is in the Notams which we check before each flight, don't we ?
I'm not keen on more Class D but why would it be 'pretty common practice' not to speak to a nearby commercial airport with big commercials flying ? Just because we can doesn't mean we should
FWIW in my experience i've never had any problem with Southend ATC, my encounters (dozen in the past year) with them have been nothing but professional, maybe I've been lucky.