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Let's just hope the ACMA takes notice of this and revokes the licence. This station has had lots of dead air plus they pre-record everything. Not community radio as far as I'm concerned.
The truth of the matter is that ONE disgruntled person (ex-Committee member) has resigned and left Hawkesbury Gold. He had attempted to bring on board a range of his friends as presenters from outside the Hawkesbury region, some from interstate.
That person was also the subject of a caution issued to Hawkesbury Gold by ACMA last week, due to his inappropriate on-air comments about another local community radio broadcaster. The offender was not prepared to comply with a number of our policies, and chose to leave the station of his own free will.
The ex-Committee member had registered the Station’s Facebook page and website in his personal name, not the Association, hence the disruption to these services. They are currently being restored.
Hawkesbury Gold has faced a significant challenge getting started due to the fact we were given only short notice between receiving a Temporary Community Broadcast Licence and the start date for transmission. However we succeeded in getting from zero (with no equipment or presenters) to broadcasting in just 5 weeks. A further set back was experienced when our transmitter suffered a lightning strike during local storms 10 days ago, resulting in us having to use a borrowed transmitter. New transmission equipment has since been purchased and installed, and is now operational.
Hawkesbury Gold received it’s TCBL after ACMA refused to renew the broadcast licence that has been held by Hawkesbury Radio 2VTR for the past 39 years. It was one of only two licences not renewed by ACMA this year. While both stations now share the same frequency on TCBLs, Hawkesbury Gold’s policy is to refrain from issuing acrimonious comments.
Hawkesbury Gold has made a significant financial investment in an effort to improve the community radio broadcast services and has had a very warm response from its local community, as evidenced by receiving over 100 expressions of interest in membership in the few short weeks of our existence. Presenters are being trained and will be added to the station in the coming months. We intend to become a benchmark for community radio in our region, and resent the scaremongering that appears to be coming from a very narrow section of people with vested interests.
John Bryant Terry Malecki
Secretary Vice President
Hawkesbury Gold
Hawkesbury Valley Community Radio Association, Inc