I used to fly from Goodwood and lived North of the Downs, it was possible to set off knowing that North was clear but Goodwood would be rain and low cloud so useful to be able to set off North in IMC but knowing it was clear where I was going. It would also often be the case that I would climb a couple of thousand feet and be sitting in clear skies on top flying towards a destination that was clear, or at least had higher cloud base. As far as VOR goes, yes these are reducing, but only because GPS is being more accepted and I believe in the future more airfields will end up with a GPS approach.