Axed Cheshire "station" on How-Do

As we reported a few days ago, the BBC's allegedly advanced plans for a Radio Cheshire have been scrapped for budgetary reasons.

North-west news hub, How-Do, has reported today on the story and this campaign gets a mention!

A bad news day...

... but not entirely unexpected.

Earlier today, the BBC announced it would not be going ahead with plans to launch 5 new regional radio stations due to ongoing budget problems.

The Dorset page on BBC News Online carried a report on the fact that the proposed BBC Radio Dorset would not get the green light.

Needless to say, there was no trace on the BBC news website at all about the decision to scrap next year's launch of BBC Radio Cheshire. Without a trace of irony, we think it's fair to say that's because there is no Cheshire page on which to announce it!

We are not giving up the fight! We will continue to campaign for a Cheshire news page on the BBC website because we cannot accept that is unaffordable, budget cuts or not, and because 900,000 residents of Cheshire - licence payers all - are entitled to equal treatment.

Many signatories to the petition have made it very clear that they really want a regional radio station and we will continue to press for that too.

Please sign the petition if you have not yet done so - it is more important than ever to make sure your voice is heard!

Zoos aren't news

Can someone at the BBC please take note - Chester Zoo is NOT news.

Cestrians might be forgiven for thinking that nothing ever happens in Chester except for births at the zoo. Now, Chester Zoo is a fine example as zoos go, don't get us wrong. But there are plenty of more interesting and important things happening in the county capital than the apparent "news" that the zoo is to be on television. For example, the news that the chairman of the Countess of Chester hospital has just been awarded a pay rise of more than £11,000 a year (as reported by the Chester Chronicle).

Priorities, priorities...

Keep 'em coming

It's been a record week for Aunty - we're starting to lose count of the news from Cheshire that the Beeb is currently publishing.

Cheshire cops are targeting traffickers in the sex industry.

A Runcorn church collapsed after going ablaze.

And a Cheshire man has been charged with drug offences.

Of course, after this unprecedented flurry of reportage, it may well go quiet for another month now. But it would be nice to think the BBC is turning over a new leaf here.

Warrington Watch

After the latest (yet not unusual) news drought, Warrington has been hitting the BBC's headlines. It's all been happening there in the last two days.

First, a car explosion took place, apparently caused by industrial fireworks rather than act of terrorism. Then a woman had her car stolen by a couple of prospective buyers. Lastly, there was a drugs raid and haul nearby, a big one.

Over in Chester, there's been an E.coli outbreak.

Dear BBC
You see, Cheshire does exist and things do happen here. You managed to report 4 stories in the space of just over 24 hours. It's not that difficult. You can do it, you just proved it. Can we have more, please?
Yours,
O. Twist of Cheshire

Quick!

... before it vanishes!

There is Cheshire news afoot on the BBC website.

Police "errors" in teenager's death.

Surely more has happened in the last 10 days than that, though?

Radio rumours

A whisper has reached News for Cheshire that BBC Radio Cheshire may possibly be launching in 2008...

Unfortunately, we didn't hear this from the BBC (now there's a surprise!). The tip came from a local journalist working on one of Cheshire's newspapers.

Searching the net for any info on this proposed venture reveals nothing at all, so I guess we'll just have to sit tight and see if our friendly journo is right - we'd love to see this news come true. On the petition, it's been astonishing the number of signatories who have voiced their fury at the lack of a county radio station even though the campaign started off as a demand for a humble web page on BBC News Online. So - fingers crossed, it may yet happen...

Depressingly, since we last posted on 23 September, the BBC has not published one single item of Cheshire news at all (no change there, then).

Here are last week's stories that Aunty could have reported:

The Tories won a crucial by-election in Gowy for Cheshire county council, strengthening their grip on power. They have also selected Stephen Mosley as Chester's candidate for the general election (which could be sooner than we think). Mosley is currently a county councillor as well as deputy leader of Chester City Council.

An armed gang has been targeting off-licences in the Chester area and members are possibly carrying guns.

A Crewe teacher was convicted of downloading child porn from the internet and is awaiting sentence.

Vale Royal Borough Council won an award - The Times Best Council to Work For, an annual award run by The Times newspaper to recognise the best of public service.

A campaign to revive the fortunes of our county's Cheshire Cheese was launched at Nantwich Food and Drink Festival over the weekend. Just six traditional producers (as opposed to factories) still make Britain's oldest-known cheese.

And - the best news this week - the Glass Slug project is officially dead. Official conformation came on an election leaflet during the Gowy by-election (see above).

All the news that Aunty refuses to tell you....

Tune in next week for more.