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Introduction

1. Ofcom, in accordance with section 104(1) of the Broadcasting Act 1990, invites applications for a licence to provide an Independent Local Radio (ILR) service on the FM (VHF) waveband covering the town of Ashford, Kent, and the surrounding area, for a maximum period of twelve years from the commencement of broadcasting.

2. The closing-date for the submission of completed applications will be 5.00 p.m. on Thursday 21 October 2004. A fee of £1,500 will be payable for each application submitted. This fee will not be refundable in any circumstances.

3. Ofcom welcomes views from the public about the local radio needs of listeners in this area, and the type of programme service required. These should be e-mailed to commercialradio@ofcom.org.uk, or sent to Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing, Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Please mark the envelope 'Ashford'.

4. In considering the applications it receives for this licence, Ofcom is required to have regard to the each of the statutory criteria set out in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990, as amended (see Section 3 of this Notice for full details). The legislation does not rate these requirements in order of priority, but it may be that Ofcom will regard one or more of these criteria as being particularly important in view of the characteristics of the licence to be awarded and the applications for it. Given the relatively small population coverage afforded by this Ashford licence, criterion (a) - the ability of each applicant to maintain, throughout the period for which the licence would be in force, the service which it proposes to provide - is likely to be considered of particular importance. Similarly, as a 'smaller' licence serving a locality which is not the sole focus (in editorial terms) of any existing service, criterion (c) - the extent to which a proposed service would broaden the range of programmes available by way of local (commercial) services in the area, and would cater for tastes and interests different from those already catered for - is likely to be considered more important in relation to an applicant's proposals for speech content than in relation to its music proposals, and less significant overall than criterion (b) - the extent to which an applicant's proposed service would cater for local tastes and interests (general or particular). In respect of criterion (d), non-research based evidence of local support is likely to be considered alongside evidence of demand, as Ofcom appreciates that applicants might wish to provide such evidence. However, a limited number of carefully-selected expressions of support is likely to be considered more meaningful than volumes of repetitious letters or petitions. The guidance given above on the application by Ofcom of the statutory criteria to this particular licence award is subject to Ofcom's discretion, as Ofcom cannot restrict in advance the way in which it will exercise its discretion in any particular case. As stated above, Ofcom will always consider each of the four statutory criteria when making a licence award.

The full document is available from the link below

• Advertisement of FM Independent Local Radio Licence for ASHFORD [pdf]

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