Funferal

Community station at risk in Victoria

News today of an Australian community station that is at risk of losing its license after 25 years on the air. Fresh 89.5FM submitted some paperwork late, which might not have been enough to cause trouble in itself, but now it turns out ABC is looking for a frequency in the region for a “parliamentary broadcast service” and are, it seems, jumping on this opportunity.
The station hasn’t yet lost its frequency for certain, but have been told that there are three possibilities:

The frequency could be returned to The Fresh, he said, or it could be released to the ABC, who would use it for a parliamentary broadcast service.
Alternatively, The Fresh would share its broadcasting time with Central Victorian Gospel Radio (101.5 FM), whose temporary frequency licence is also under negotiation.

The station has a lot of community support – 13,000 signatures to a petition, 100 community groups, and 300 businesses so far – so hopefully that will help their struggle.