This community will soon have its own radio station, after almost four years of effort to get the licence approved.
The approval was granted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in mid-September.
The licence application was submitted by Hanover-based Saugeen Community Radio Inc., which will operate the FM station. It was supported by Wellington North council and its economic development department.
Township involvement in the CRTC licence application began in June 2011, when council approved a request from its economic business manager Dale Small for permission to use $4,000 out of his department’s budget to help with preliminary work.
Small said the money was used to hire a radio broadcast consultant to “assist in the process of determining the feasibility of establishing a community radio station in Wellington North.”
The requirements of the consultant included: preparations and submission of a technical brief and applications required by Industry Canada, the CRTC and other agencies in order to approve the application, identifying the location of a broadcast tower and completion of mapping and land use documents required by NavCanada (the country’s civil air navigation service provider), submission and approval of an Aeronautical Obstruction Clearance document from Transport Canada and the completion of documents required for registration and incorporation of Saugeen Radio Inc. as a non-profit corporation.
Smart said the township has not incurred any further costs above the initial $4,000 in 2011.
“Since then there has been no additional costs incurred by the municipality, other than my staff time,” Small told the Advertiser.
Small said the station, known as CIWN 88.7FM, will be staffed by a disc jockey from 7am to 11pm from a main street location yet to be chosen.
“We (will) have another means of getting information out,” Small said of the station’s coverage area.
It will also allow students interested in broadcasting or journalism to gather experience by working at the station on a volunteer basis,” Small added.
The applicant proposes to broadcast 126 hours of programming each week, of which 120 hours will be local programming, including four hours of Christian programs.
“It’s going to be self-sustaining,” Mayor Ray Tout said.
“The benefit is going to be with it being in Mount Forest.”
The Mount Forest location, according to Tout, will allow the station to broadcast to the Shelburne area, Drayton area, Southgate Township and south of the township boundary.
The station, which Tout expects to be up and running by next year summer, will rent space downtown in the community.
