South Norfolk Council are taking the below motion to their Council meeting on 12th December to highlight the importance of local radio to their communities, and particularly those in rural more isolated areas

The motion follows the recent announcements of the proposed changes to be made to local programming at local BBC Radio Stations in England.

The RSN would encourage other rural Local Authorities who are experiencing similar issues with their local radio to consider using this motion as a template for their own.

Full text of the motion:

Motion to Full Council – BBC local radio

This Council regrets the recent announcement to scale back the production of the much valued distinctive and local programming at Radio Norfolk and other BBC local radio stations in England.

The Council understands that times change and a large proportion of the population now access all sorts of services digitally. But as Council we know that over-reliance on digital channels is not right for everyone. 

Radio Norfolk has built a loyal audience that lies outside the Metropolitan Centres and trendy Media Hubs with amongst the greatest reach of any Radio service broadcasting to our County.  Its programming fulfils a greater social service grounded in a sense of place than perhaps the BBC realises.

The sense of belonging to those in isolated rural communities from local programming is tangible.  The value of listener engagement and the sense of belonging is something that our residents pay their licence fee to receive. 

The work of BBC Local Radio in Norfolk has engendered a pride in place that has taken forty years to build.  It is the enemy of loneliness.  It has the focus to challenge those who should be doing better.  And it can allow itself to be tribal in the promotion of the sporting life in our County in a way a regional canvas could never hope to achieve.

‘Digital First’ should not be used as cover to dispense with local programming.  Instead, the digital revolution provides the ability to serve ever more local communities and interests.