Narrandera’s community radio station volunteers have several good reasons to party and are trying to keep their excitement in check for now.
Since its inception in 2005, Narrandera District Community Radio, Spirit FM, staffed entirely by volunteers, has broadcast under a temporary licence which was subject to annual renewal with no guarantees it would be given.
Now seven years on, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has granted the station a full licence.
Station music manager Pam Mayne and fellow volunteers are ecstatic.
“The ACMA are not giving out many full licences and we are very, very fortunate to get one,” Mrs Mayne said.
“It has taken us seven years, but we’ve finally got it.”
She said it was all due to the tireless efforts of member John Primrose who only joined to gain the licence for the station to ensure security of future broadcasts.
Mr Primrose devoted hundreds of hours and filled out countless applications to achieve the elusive piece of paper.
“On a temporary licence we could not plan ahead as we did not know if we would still be broadcasting at the end of the 12 months,” she said.
“They could have closed us down. Now knowing we’ve got the security of a full licence, we’ve got the next five years to plan and work towards our goals.”
“We will take the full licence up in May next year when our temporary licence expires which will give us almost six years before we have to re-
Next on the list of goals is a mobile broadcast van which Mrs Mayne said would be on the road within 12 months thanks to sponsors’ generous support.
A van will avoid the need to pack and unpack equipment to transport to outside broadcast locations and serve as a travelling studio. �
Besides the labour involved in the present practice, Mrs Mayne said there was a risk of damaging valuable equipment.
Another cause for celebration is the station’s pending launch of a “streaming” service.
“It will mean that anyone anywhere in the world can go on to our website and listen to Spirit FM,” Mrs Mayne said.
“The streaming is being developed by our techno trouble-
Volunteer station manager, Pam’s husband Barry, said Narrandera Community Radio’s future prospects were promising.
Twenty five to 30 new members had joined in the last year bolstering membership to 98 which he said was really good.
The station enjoyed excellent community support and was fortunate to have 36 sponsors, including two in Leeton.
Besides providing local news and entertainment, Spirit FM broadcasts hundreds of community announcements for free each year.
The service is available to all not-
Spirit FM gains full broadcast license
After seven years on a temporary license, Narrandera’s community radio station Spirit FM are the proud owners of a full broadcast licence.