ALTON’S Wey Valley Radio is staging a comeback and is seeking local support.

In June, Ofcom awarded the former station a new licence to broadcast to Alton and the surrounding villages for five years.

Spearheaded by well-known local broadcaster David Way, who has been the driver over the past two-and-a-half decades for bringing community radio to the town, the aim is to be on air before the 25th anniversary in November next year of the launch of the original Wey Valley Radio.

To be led by Mr Way, who is acting as managing director and chairman, Wey Valley Radio (Alton) Ltd has been set up as a not-for-profit company run principally by volunteers.

And today (Tuesday) the group will host Wey Valley Radio’s 24th birthday event, starting 7.30pm at Alton Community Centre, when they are asking interested supporters to join them.

There will be a short presentation followed by a question-and-answer session, the aim being to form a steering committee to support future programming.

The Wey Valley Radio team first broadcast from the Herald office in Alton as part of the Radio Cracker RSL in 1991.

Wey Valley Radio launched on FM in November 1992 and was successfully run in the spirit of a community station by David Way, first as WVR and then as Delta Radio, a small scale commercial independent local station.

Following the closure of Delta Radio in 2010, members of the original team have worked together and broadcast online in preparation for the current licence application.

Delighted to have been awarded the new Ofcom licence, Mr Way explained: “We have two years to commence the service, a great deal of work and planning will be needed before then and it’s hoped that, with the massive support we have received so far and hope for in the future, the goal will be achieved before the 25th anniversary of the first Wey Valley Radio broadcast in 1992.”

And he added: “There are currently no radio services targeted directly at the majority of Alton residents and dedicated to providing local news, information and entertainment for this community.”

To be broadcast from a location within the GU34 area and on the FM frequency, during weekdays (7am to 7pm) the service will play a mainstream selection of popular music, ranging from the 1960s to the current day, interspersed with local news and information, while programmes at the weekend, during public holidays and after 7pm are expected to focus more on specialist music, speech programming (such as in depth local news, discussions and plays) or other material of interest to the local community.

With a minimum of six hours per day to feature original, locally produced material broadcast live, the aim will be “to give voice to all residents of Alton and the surrounding areas” and to actively encourage listener participation.

At least half of the Wey Valley Radio presenters, office and production staff will be volunteers or trainees from the local community and the station is expected to act as a local training centre.

The board of directors includes Paul Wisdom and Sandra Bambling, and the staff team will include a station manager, technical manager and training manager, as well as a sales and administration team.

A steering committee will comprise volunteers and trainee staff who will collect and collate feedback from the public, listeners, volunteers and trainees and liaise with the board.

Former presenters already on board include Paul Le Feuvre, Johnathan Cohen, BBC’s Mark Carter, Chas Byrne, Julie Cottrell, Lorna O’Keefe, Rick Davies, Paul Wisdom, Darren The Badger Reddick, and Vernon Pearce.