Devon’s Totnes FM, a radio station run by ex-City AM editor David Parsley, has been awarded an FM Community Radio Licence from Ofcom.
It means the station can now reach more than 16,000 local people and call itself the official community radio station for Totnes and surrounding villages.
Parsley, whose career includes stints on The Sunday Times and Sunday Express, said the station was committed to providing local news.
‘It’s amazing news and takes Totnes FM to a whole new level,’said Parsley. “Just over a year ago Totnes FM was little more than an idea. Now we have been awarded a Community Radio Licence and will soon be broadcasting to everyone in this wondeful area.
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“I would like to thank everyone who has helped us get to this amazing position. And, thank you to Ofom for giving us, as first time applicants, such a wonderful opportunity. Now, as we move to the next stage, there’s more hard work to be done ensuring we are making fantastic radio.”
Parsley plans to launch a number of news and information-led shows in the coming year, and boost its coverage of the local music scene.
‘One of our main commitments is to local and new music and we are determined to do everything we can to highlight the amazing talent there is in and around Totnes,’said Parsley.
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‘We’re also going to provide a forum for local people to put their questions directly to the people responsible running things. We’re going to give the local community a truly local station.”
Ofcom granted the radio station a five-year FM broadcasting licence. It now has up to two years to begin broadcasting on FM but intends to raise the funds for the transmission equipment and its installation by the end of this year.
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