Merthyr Radio application 1 Station Name Guidance Notes What is the proposed station name? This is the name you expect to use to identify the station on air. Merthyr Radio (working title) 2. Community to be served Guidance Notes Define the community or communities you are proposing It is a legislative requirement that a service is intended to serve. Drawing from various sources of data (e.g. from primarily to serve one or more communities (whether or the Office of Population, Census and Survey) and in relation not it also serves other members of the public) and we need to your proposed coverage area, please determine the size to understand who comprises that community or of the population concerned and the make-up of the communities. The target community will also be specified in population as a whole, along with any relevant socio- the licence, if this application is successful. economic information that would support your application. The legislation defines a ‘community’ as: people who live or (Please tell us the sources of the information you provide.) work or undergo education or training in a particular area Answer in fewer than 300 words: or locality, or people who have one or more interests or characteristics in common. Target Community: All who live, work and study in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. Known for its rich history and beautiful scenery, the area also contains some of the most deprived communities in Wales. Socio Economic: The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2014 ranks specific areas in Wales. In Merthyr Tydfil 22 per cent of areas fall in the top 10% most deprived areas in Wales and overall the majority of its areas are more deprived than the Wales average. Merthyr Tydfil lies 2nd behind Blaenau Gwent in all deprivation rankings. This makes the area a focus for intensive regeneration activity, including the Welsh Government’s ‘Valleys Taskforce’, plus the new ‘Cardiff Capital Region City Deal’. Population: The County’s total population was estimated as 59,953 in Mid 2017 by the ONS. The 15+ ‘adult’ population was 49,194, 23,902 male and 25,292 female. Age Group Total 000’s Male Female 0-14 10,759 5,514 5,245 15-24 6,875 3,511 3,364 25-34 8,307 4,064 4,243 35-44 6,907 3,361 3,546 45-54 8,386 4,072 4,314 55-64 7,611 3,768 3,843 65-74 6,298 3,041 3,257 75-84 3,573 1,629 1,944 85-90(+) 1,237 456 781 Population Trends & Projections: Credible projections estimate both rises and falls in Merthyr’s total population in future years in Merthyr County Borough Council’s ‘Local Development Plan 2016-2031 Background Paper Population and Housing Requirements’. A key deciding factor is migration patterns which are currently disrupted by Brexit. However, improved rail links will give more local people access to job opportunities further south as well as encouraging people to relocate from the Cardiff area to Merthyr where housing is cheaper. Predicting changes up to 2031, the Council study anticipates decreases in the number of children; young adults aged 20-30; and people aged between 45 and 60, balanced by significant increases in the number of people aged 60 and over. 1 Merthyr Radio application 3. Proposed area Guidance Notes What is the area you propose to serve? Although we believe it is helpful to set guidance that frequency availability may often limit transmission powers to around 25 watts and the coverage radius to around 5km, we are adopting a more flexible approach and will consider applications for wider areas where applicants can demonstrate that the proposed coverage area will better serve the target community, and where it is technically possible. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/1 01459/community-radio-future-licensing-technical-policy- statement.pdf We intend to serve Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, which contains the large town of the same name. Merthyr Radio will give this area its own local station for the first time. It has been without a local radio service since the closure of Valleys Radio. This ‘Y’ shaped area is defined by the north-south Taff river valley with higher ground to the north (Brecon Beacons), east and west. A number of smaller communities lie to the south along the river valley including former mining village Aberfan, sadly best known for a disaster in 1966 which killed 144 people, 116 of whom were children. Once the largest town in Wales (and still the fifth largest urban area by population, according to Wikipedia), the former iron and steel making and mining town of Merthyr Tydfil lies at the point where the key north- south (A470) and east-west (A465 ‘Heads of the Valleys’) roads cross and is at the top of a branch railway line linking it directly to Cardiff around 24 miles to the south. Part of the new ‘Metro’ regional transport system, the number of trains serving the town will soon double to four an hour in each direction. Good rail and road connections also exist to nearby key town Pontypridd, 12.5 miles to the south. Aberdare in the ‘next door’ Cynon Valley to the south west is also accessible via one train change. While only around 4 miles away ‘as the crow flies’ the road distance between Merthyr and Aberdare is just under 7 miles due to intervening high ground, though keen local interest in recreational walking and cycling is likely to see a disused railway tunnel ‘through the mountain’ re-opened for cyclists more directly linking the towns once again. In choosing to transmit from an omni-directional antennae mounted above a four storey building located in a mainly residential area on high ground at Gurnos in the north of the town, we believe we have found somewhere which overlooks much of the target area, including the town itself as well as having an uninterrupted view southward toward other Taff valley communities which are part of Merthyr County. Yet the site is still lower on three sides than nearby higher ground which should limit potential outgoing interference, hopefully allowing us to operate at a higher power than might otherwise be the case. While the blocking effects of surrounding high ground make coverage predictions from this site at different power levels look very similar at first glance, our transmission consultant Andy Bantock recommends we request 100w (VP only) in order to be sure we reach town locations, some in the river valley, where direct line of site is interrupted by local terrain. Some of these places can be seen to only get a 54db+ signal (yellow on the maps) on the 100w overage map. Our planned broadcast area will dovetail well to the south with the existing northern coverage limit of our partner community station, GTFM. And when, if permitted, GTFM’s plan to extend their ‘official’ area to include Aberdare and the Cynon Valley (where they can already be heard in places) is added to ours, contiguous coverage of community radio will extend northwards from Cardiff all the way to Merthyr with virtually no gaps. This is desirable because of strong social links between these neighbouring South Wales Valleys communities and to counter-act the reduced ‘localness’ plans of some commercial stations. As well as assisting us with the launch and operation of our station, GTFM, which pioneered community radio in Wales in 2002, will also share its well established ‘Valleys Breakfast’ weekday show with us. 2 Merthyr Radio application Programmes and programme output: Definitions: Studio location: The studio from which the service will be broadcast should be located within the licensed area. Locally-produced: Locally-produced output is output made and broadcast from within the service’s licensed coverage area. (It is anticipated that most stations will produce the bulk of their output themselves, in the locality. However, for some target communities it may be appropriate for fairly high levels of output to originate from outside the licensed area.) Live output: is that which is produced by a presenter in the studio at the time of broadcast. (The amount of live output may vary between different services depending on the needs or expectations of the target community.) Original output: output that is first produced for and transmitted by the service, and excludes output that was transmitted elsewhere before. Original output can be live or voice-tracked. Repeat broadcasts of original output do not count towards the minimum requirement. Peak time: it may be helpful to state what material will be broadcast in ‘peak time’. If you do, please say what you consider peak time to be for your target community (this may vary from station to station). Automated output/voice-tracked material: most stations will carry automated output at some time. The amount of automated or voice-tracked material does not need to be specified in the Key Commitments. Sustaining service/third party produced material: if you intend to broadcast material produced by a different organisation please state what it is and how much (per day or week as appropriate). 4. Programming output Guidance Notes Please fill-in all three questions below The law requires applicants to state their proposals for Question A asks you to describe your programme service. providing a service that would: Question B relates to how your output will serve the tastes (i) cater for the tastes and interests of members of its and interests of your target community. target community or communities (or for any particular tastes and interests in those communities); Question C is about how your service will broaden the range of local (non-BBC) services available in your area.