July 5th 2006 - It will soon be time to tune to 'your radio, your station' (East Grinstead Observer)

By Pippa Woolnough

MERIDIAN FM is coming to a radio near you soon.

As the Observer reported in March, a bid has been submitted for a community radio licence and the directors are hoping to be on air before the year is out.

Lee Quinn, a consultant from East Grinstead and director of Meridian FM, noticed a gap in the market for a community radio station in the town.

He said: "We plan to have a temporary licence to transmit for four weeks by November 24 and we are looking to run from 6am until midnight. "The target is to get a full licence by February 5 next year."

Broadcast expert Peter Furze is liaising with radio licence providers OFCOM to secure the licence.

"They look on people who have had temporary licences more favourably," he said. But before that, Meridian FM is hoping to get a head start with a week-long introduction to the station at the end of the month.

"The campaign launch for Meridian FM is on July 17 and our slogan is Your Radio, Your Station," said Mr Quinn. "We won't be broadcasting over the airwaves, but we will be airing programmes in the library, moving into the town centre later in the week for the town festival."

The team are hoping to continue "broadcasting" all week and will be looking for feedback from members of the public. "Just prior to that our website will be launched, and on it will be feedback forms.

"The feedback period will run from July 17 until September 17. "I have been writing the programmes for the launch but we want to check what the community wants to hear."

In keeping with the promise of a local station for local people, Mr Quinn said the station could include such features as traffic reports, what the local papers say and coverage of local sports fixtures.