A community radio station struggled with ‘red tape’ for six years and spent more than $60,000 to have an antenna installed on top of Hume council’s offices, only to be told it will now have to relocate it.
When the council’s new office tower went up in 2006, it blocked part of the signal from North West FM’s transmitter atop the neighbouring Broadmeadows Town Hall. As a result, Craigieburn residents were unable to tune in.
The council offered the station a spot for its transmitter and antenna on top of the new building to fix the problem. After negotiating with bureaucracy and submitting planning permits, building permits and even an aeronautical survey, the station was given the go-ahead to turn on its equipment on August 8, 2012.
But station treasurer Jean Rau said that after it was turned on, council could not communicate with its external sites.
“We immediately turned the transmitter off and it has largely stayed off ever since, apart from testing a few weekends later to find the problem,” she said.
North West FM was forced to revert to broadcasting from the antenna at the town hall. Ms Rau said the issue lay with the council’s cabling.
Last month the council ordered the station to take down its antenna on the council building.
Hume chief executive Domenic Isola told Star Weekly last week that representatives from the council and North West FM had met recently and agreed to relocate the station’s equipment.
But Mr Isola would not elaborate on why the antenna had to be removed and he could not say who would pay for the station’s transfer or what alternative sites were being considered.
Ms Rau said the station would move elsewhere if the council could find a new site that met the necessary requirements and paid for the move.
