The problem is the way we have followed the Yanks with litigation for every scratch, ding or dent on our persons or property.
Local Councils often don't have a resident expert who knows enough about grass runways and whether the surface remains safe after heavy rain, or when it has not been cut for so long, etc. So the soft cock option is simply to opt out.
This attitude is everywhere. Try asking the NSW coast guard whether conditions are suitable to cross a river bar. The operator may waffle with a caution about the possibility of breaking waves etc but he/she will never say yes or no. The best you could get is that a 50 foot trawler just made it without reported incident. But even that much information is unlikely because it could induce you to thinking it is OK for your tinny.
Hypothetically, suppose the airport published a standing NOTAM stating that the condition of the grass was not monitored and pilots used at their own risk. Along comes some cashed up bogan/doctor/lawyer in his shiny new plastic fantastic. On landing the nose wheel drops into a rabbit hole and the whole shebang inverts, killing the passenger and mutilating the pilot. Who ya gonna sue? 'At your own risk' is a meaningless caution in law, it seems.
The authorities who run public services are not to blame - the law makers are. And the unwashed public because so many won't accept the consequences of their own actions.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 30th Oct 2015 at 21:32.