Pie Man replied to me:
Bit of a problem there the number of LARS units is ever decreasing, controller shortages and cash may not be available to upgrade the present system - would the GA comunity like to pay more for the service?
Perhaps we should treat the airspace above the UK as a national resource for the use of all, much like the roads are. Or at least as they used to be until the government introduced tolls, congestion charges etc.
My problem at the moment is that I see myself paying a large and increasing amount in taxation, both direct and indirect, yet I really don't see a large and increasing improvement in the quality of the country - schools, hospitals, roads, ATC staffing levels, you name it, I bet there have been cuts in the last ten years (and in the ten years prior to that, and...). Something, somewhere is going badly wrong. My personal feeling is that the root cause is that there are too many people looking out for their own little empire and too few looking out for the good of the country as a whole. I'm not trying to point the finger at any individual or group here - my comment is a general one aimed at almost everyone, including myself. The end result is that there are too many people making too much money at the expense of society rather than for the benefit of society.
What I feel is needed is a strong lead towards a more selfless way of thinking about things: taking aviation for an example (this IS PPRuNe after all!) why should the air traffic service around Heathrow be paid for by the users of Heathrow? BAA don't own the airspace. NATS don't own the airspace. The people of the country own the airspace, and they all get some benefit from it, whether through holiday flights or freight imported by air and sold in the shops at low prices. Therefore everyone should pay for the technical facilities and controllers who make the use of the airspace possible, through national taxes.
Too radical? Probably
I guess there's nothing for it - I'll just HAVE to get a Green Card and go live in the States!
Cheers,
MD.