More details of Isle of Man longwave hearing

The sole petitioner, Mr L.N. Cussons of Bride made various claims, suggesting that the Government’s Communications Commission had acted unlawfully when it issued a Full Broadcast Licence to Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc and that planning permission for the studios. After documents proving the existence of planning permission were presented to the court and hearing that the proposals had been given the utmost scrutiny by the Commission’s own and independent experts, the Deemster decided that Mr Cussons had failed to prove any of his claims and dismissed his entire petition. IMIB successfully applied for costs on a full indemnity basis.

The Petitioner had told the Court that he did not object to the proposed programmes but was simply concerned that the noise of generators might keep him awake at night. A detailed report by acoustic experts ANV Ltd proved that the noise audible on the coast will be much lower than the background noise on even the quietest night.

“Despite a lengthy planning inquiry and two High Court hearings, all the claims of danger, noise and nuisance have been dismissed,” commented Paul Rusling, the project’s founder after the decision. “Of all the concerns ever raised, only visual impact has been found to have any substance - all other claims have proven to be unfounded. As ever, we are happy to answer any queries any member of the public may have. We tried to allay objectors fears by moving the antenna several miles out to sea (it will be 9 km north east of Ramsey) but the objectors refused all our attempts at dialogue and so its perhaps little wonder they continue making statements and claims which are easily proven to be quite untrue.”

“With this legal obstacle cleared we can now complete our funding arrangements and plan for the launch of the radio station. The economic climate now is much more favourable than it was two years ago, so the delays caused by the objections, while very frustrating and expensive, may well have helped us. We have had a lot more interest from investors in recent months, possibly due to the large upturn in radio advertising in the UK.”

The radio station’s studios will be located in Ramsey on the Isle of Man with a remote studio in London and will transmit on a clear channel (279 kHz Long Wave) to the entire British Isles (UK and ROI) from a 500,000 watt transmitter in Ramsey Bay, close to the spot where Radio Caroline was anchored.