Radio Heritage Foundation
April 13 2011

Just over a month ago, the Wellington [NZ] based Radio Heritage Foundation had the idea of bringing a mobile radio station to support the eastern suburbs of Christchurch.

In less than ten days, a licence was granted and Southland broadcaster Chris Diack had moved a mobile radio studio into the main street of the seaside suburb of New Brighton and Radio New Brighton was on the air on 102.1 FM.

In the weeks since, Radio New Brighton has become an integral part of the eastern suburbs recovery and rebuilding process, with locals calling in to the studio to chat about lost pets, hot shower facilities, stores reopening, public meetings, children's events and much more.

School children from the Central New Brighton School where the mobile studio is parked perform live singing, poetry and jokes on the air and send dedications to their teachers. Locals with no previous radio experience find themselves on the air hosting their own shows in minutes.

Radio Heritage Foundation chairman David Ricquish says "this is just the kind of local community radio we had in mind when we saw the need emerging for more local news, information and reassurance in eastern Christchurch in the weeks immediately after the February 22 earthquake."

"Our international board members have decades of experience with emergency radio broadcasting in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and were able to give us some good pointers on how to make this work such as getting local people involved as soon as possible" he adds.

He says the support of existing local low power FM radio stations in setting up the station was crucial to its early success, along with amateur radio operators and students from the NZ Broadcasting School whose facilities were in the cordoned off CBD. Telecom provided free broadband and other links very quickly, and the local school agreed to the mobile studio being on their premises within sixty seconds.

The Radio Heritage Foundation, holder of the radio licence for 102.1 FM, now wants to see a permanent community radio station, run by locals, established in New Brighton once the current emergency broadcasts end.

"The mobile caravan can't stay there forever so locals now have a great opportunity to create their own community radio station to support the arts, culture, business and the great seaside lifestyle of this community" says Mr Ricquish, whose family have lived in the area since 1950. "We'll be delighted to help establish a strong community group we can partner to keep local radio in New Brighton" he adds.

The Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization connecting popular culture, nostalgia and radio heritage and its global website is www.radioheritage.net.

Another of its 'Helping Rebuild Christchurch' projects involves restoring the original 3ZB radio studio and transmitter building in New Brighton in time for its 75th anniversary in 2012.

ENDS

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