Around Dorset

What do you think of the changes? Are you disappointed about Radio Dorset?

Joseph Sherwood-Taylor
What would be the point. FM reception is poor of most of the county and DAB virtually non-existent.

Mrs D - rural dorset
We pay our tv licence the same as anyone else, are we not entitled to the same

Mike Streeter
An unbelievable decision. Solent is not half the station it used to be and their coverage of Dorset is poor to say the least. We do not even get our own News Hour any more. It's time Dorset was recognised and given it's own station.

A Dorset Podcaster
The BBC should think again about their decision to not create a Radio Station for the County of Dorset. There is a need and an audience...

Mandy Poulton
I am on the point of moving to dorset from London. As part of my research of the area and as I live for the radio (Radio 2,4 and BBC 7 and Southern Counties online) I was expecting to find a BBC radio station to serve the local area.As a single lady moving into a new area with no immediate friends or family nearby, I was hoping to make my first friend with a local radio station. It would give me a link with the local area and I could find out what was going on and feel a part of the area.My opinion is that I am astonished that there isn't a Dorset radio station. I think that this is a loss to the area and a missed opportunity .Get your finger out and fill this need in the community - I hope to be there by April!Kind regardsMandy Poulton

R.F.Brown
BBC gave its own station to Somerset recently, why not Dorset???There is already a frequency in use, ( 103.8)and studios ( of a sort )in Dorchester. It's not too late .

Geoff Barlow
It's about time we had our own county radio station. Radio Solent is very poor about covering news, particularly in Dorset

Dr Arnold Coffer
What a terrible disappoinment and a really bad operational decision. This County is large enough in area and population to warrant its own local area news coverage. I'm personally totally fed up with getting minute amounts of broadcast relevant news on Dorset issues while being well versed by both radio and TV on news and events in other counties which have little bearing on what is happening in Dorset

RedRobin
Reading through the comments already here, what possible justification could there be for not having Radio Dorset!? It's simply a no-brainer!! Duh! What the heck do we pay a BBC licence fee for?

Richard Horobin
Dorset is a county simply packed with fascinating people and great stories that need to be told. Local papers do their job, but Dorset needs the BBC; Dorset deserves the BBC. The licence fee payers of Dorset have a right to expect the BBC to provide a full service to the county. And soon.

Terry Fowler
Radio Solent and Radio Plymouth are too distant from Weymouth to include Dorset coverage

M Anthony
Disappointed and disgusted that the BBC has cancelled Radio Dorset. We can get Solent sometimes or it is drowned out by Devon but none of them concentrate on what is happening here!Furthermore the TV also ignores the County. We cannot even get Channel 5 without having Sky and Cable TV hasn't seen fit to get to West Dorset yet! Where are we supposed to get our local information and programming from - or are we going to be completely banished when it goes digital?

Carol B.
What other county does not have it's own local BBC radio?? More and more people are moving here, families included, we need more service not less. Many people also retire here and may be computer literate. We love our radios - give us BBC Radio Dorset.

carol.dorset@btinternet.com
What other county does not have it's own local BBC radio?? More and more people are moving here, families included, we need more service not less. Many people also retire here and may be computer literate. We love our radios - give us BBC Radio Dorset.

John Trowbridge
I have lived in Dorset for thirty plus years and promise to increase the coverage for the County have been made on and off during that period. It is strange that although one would imagine that the age profile of the County is such that it probably has one of the highest potential percentage viewing and listening public we are still so badly served. We all pay the same licence fee and would expect the same service. The decision to scrap the BBC Dorset proposal condemns us to not getting our monies worth for the forseeable future.With all the modern advances we or going backwards on this one.

ian brooke
Dorset is grossly underserved by BBC radio. Solent coverage tends toward the East (Hampshire & East Sussex)rather than Dorset and even when tuned to Solent, the signal is drowned out by the BBC Bristol and Devon transmitters

Michael Roberts - Original Noise Studios
Local/community radio has always been a very important part of our Dorset lifestyle, both for locals and visitors.Wessex FM makes a solid contribution to this, but does so mainly through business adverts and repetitious musical entertainment. Surely, local radio is all about programmes and content pertinent to local people and visitors currently in the area. This not only means local news, weather and entertainment information, but surely should also include programmes and events involving local people who wish to share their culture be it artistically or musically, by using local radio as opposed to other global media like for example the internet.As with other local radio stations around the country, BBC Dorset could provide many aspiring musicians and artists with the opportunity to reach an appreciative audience and enhance our overall cultural heritage.

neil turner
do we look west east or north for our local news no lets have it here in dorset please

Charles Wild Chair Bridport Local Area Partnership
This is extremely disappointing, particularly after the efforts of the local broadcasting action group SWEDBAG. To state that Dorset is "covered" by Radio Solent is disingenuous.

Michel Hooper-Immins
Dorset is very much on the frontiers of BBC regions and so does not get well covered. Indeed many events here are ignored in favour of minor news stories in the main studio centres like Plymouth and Southampton. Local radio ceased to be local in Dorset terms some time ago and a much better effort needs to be made by BBC radio and tv to cover Dorset properly. We pay our tv licences in Dorset too you know and should not receive a second class service.

Roy F Seaborne of West Dorset
We have had our expections raised that we would have a local radio station - Radio Solent cannot be received here (West Dorset). We do need our own station as we do not have any coverage. This area is becoming of greater interest due to the redefination of the Jurassic Coast and the coming Olympic Games in Weymouth. We do need LOCAL News coverage.Your response is awaited!

Laura McHarrie
Lets have a BBC Dorset - with the 2012 sailing events and its legacy there ought to be BBC coverage if for no other reason

Anne Knox
We need a local radio station to supply local i needs - We have plenty of arts/film/wildlife/history /beach /sea events all of which need coverage & discussion on air.

Robin Andrews
We spend many days in Dorset holidaying and visiting relatives and really believethat Dorset needs a local BBc station that can cover local news and pass on localinformation that will be of enormous benefit to the county.Yours faithfully Robin and Diane Andrews

Vicki Waddington-Black
I was very disappointed byt the decision not to go ahead with plans for this station. I cannot listen to Wessex FM because of the inane jungles and constant advertising, so generally tune in to Solent, especially when working out. (I'm even doing a bit on air between now and Xmas having lost nearly 13 stone exercising to the radio!) It is however, a source of increasing frustration, that the focus of Solent is so far east. I need my Beeb, here.

Gilbert Berry - Beaminster.
Another nail in the coffin!Please, please, rethink this cancellation. A very rural, and low income area.needs the very support that only such a service can supply.

David Stewart
What seems so strange to me is that over 80% of the country is overed by Local Radio. Every rural group in the Midlands, the North, London, Bristol and the SouthEast seems to have moderately ample coverage of local issues, but not us in Dorset. ** We are one of the largest counties in the UK ithout any decent BBC coverage** Dorset (along with East World Heritage Site (the Jurassic Coast): the only natural world heritage site on mainland UK stretching almost the entire length of Dorset's coast - does this not merit a BBC priority?** Fact: Dorset has the largest elderly population out of all the shire counties! This does not mean we are old and fuddy-duddy. It means we are desperate for news and staying in touch with what's happening locally.Help us BBC!ThankyouD Stewart

Chris Etherington
Dorset has the worst of all worlds when it comes to news and current events. Our ITV stations are split three ways - BBC TV & radio (including local radio) even more. It is hightime for the introduction of a co-odinated news stream which is common to all - the BBC could go a long way to achieving this by establishing a Dorset wide service.

Isabelle Maling
Yes, i am most disappointed about Radio Dorset. i am beginning to feel that Dorset is the forgotten County. TV news ignores us, anything east of Exeter barely exists according to the BBC [and incidentally, ITV]. at least a local radio station covering our County would be something. saying that information can be obtained from the website is of little or no use to a great many people who do not have access to computers. please rethink and look at a map and find out where Dorset is!

G Hills
Of course Dorset should have its own radio station,& why not include Dorset in the south-west tv area this way the BBC could save money by having TV south-east & south-west stations only after all Dorset & Wiltshire are in the south-west region !

Rupert Cake
we need a local radio in westDorset, we very poor news cover.

Tony Ainscough
In many parts of West, North and South Dorset, BBC Radio Solent, Radio Devon and Wessex FM cannot be heard. If we had a flood alert as happened in East Anglia last week where people were told to listen to their local radio for instructions, many of those potentially affected in Bridport, Charmouth and Lyme Regis etc would not get any warning from local radio as they cannot receive anything. It would be down to the Police to carry the message and they are already overstretched at the best of times. This is quite apart from the fact Dorset is one of the only counties in England that does not have its very own local radio carrying local news and what’s on programmes. BBC Radio Dorset could carry programmes on local events so when the tourist visit us, something we as a country depend very heavily on, they know what’s on and that would be very beneficial to the local economy. If the BBC wants to make cuts, I suggest getting rid of some of the overpaid and intellectually sub normal parasites we have to watch and listen to. Just chopping few of these would more than pay for us to have our own local radio.

Laura Taylor
It would appear that Dorset has disappeared from the map as far as BBC radio and television is concerned.

Sarah Samuel
I think that Dorset has poor local news service from the BBC. I switch between BBC South and BBC South West local news and this area rarely has a mention.

Louise Ramsden
I am very disappointed. There is virtually no mention of West Dorset on the TV news and we cannot get Radio Solent. In emergency situations local radio is a life line, in fact we are advised to listen to local radio in the official Government advice on National Emergencies. There is no local radio here!

sarah williams
We sit between regional television stations ie west dorset mostly covers cornwall and south Devon and local bbc radio we get hampshire news please think again and give us a radio station for DORSET BBc radio Dorset

Chris Turner
BBC is threatening to keep Dorset in the black hole of ignorance of Dorset issues. Online services are useless for those who do not or choose not to have computers and are useless when there are power cuts! We are entitled to some return on our licence fees: so far we have no Channel 5, DAB is patchy and poor, and Freeview the same. Why are Dorset people so poorly served that we are not worth having a dedicated local radio service? Shame on you, BBC.

Patrick Knox
Dorset should definitely have its own local BBC radio

Kevin Reid
Yet another example of the 'small' counties being ignored by the London based corporations. Why should we be limited to a choice of either poor commercial radio stations or programmes broadcast by, and from, another county which has no interest in serving listeners outside it's own borders.

Annabel Levaux
Very disappointed, currently use Orchard FM for local news but it is Somerset not Dorset. Why can't we have our own radio station?

maggie ray
We should keep on campaigning for Radio Dorset by lobbying the Beeb to make savings in other areas instead. My pet hate is those outside broadcasts where they send TV presenters out at 6am to stand outside the closed doors of public buildings, eg Downing Street just because there is a story about the prime minister. Dorset is such an historic, vibrant and cultural county; we should demand that the diversity of our local traditions be given proper representation by the BBC.

Martin Ray
I cannot get radio solent.I have all the latest radios in my houseI cannot get devon radio either.I can get radio 4,3, 2, 1,They never mention Bridport or West Bay.Never ever.But they do keep enraging me by constantly harping on about the digital switchover.I am absolutely certain that we will never get this service in Bridport.Shall I organise a boycott of the license fee in Bridport.

Councillor Peter Gregson
There is a considerable demand for local news from a dedicated Station that will satisfy the needs of the community. It is a great pity that plans for Radio Dorset have been shelved.

Lucy Blackburn
I think it is very disappointing that cuts in London affect the outcome of Radio Dorset.It seems that 50% of the time that I turn on the television there is nothing interesting to watch. We seem to turn to radio more and more. Being such a rural county it would be a huge asset if we had our own radio station. We are in West Dorset, and can receive no local radio station at all.

STEPHEN ANDREW FROY
yes I am disappointed, why don't you create a radio station covering Wessex which would include Dorset in its coverage but using existing services and infrastructure

Ken MIlward
I would like to put it in writing that I fervently support the campaign to retain a DORSET radiostation.

John Carrick Smith
I live in a remote part of the county...I am not interested in Hampshire's or Devon's news in comparison to my own county's news...however Radio Solent is too far to pick up satisfactorily and Devon Radio is a mite dull.Dorset has a real intellectual/spiritual/ alternative feel to it and if you think about it is considerably more cultural...so give it a go, and reinstate the idea...I have to suffer Ivel and Orchard!

Rebecca Knox, Town Councillor Beaminster Dorset
Dorset residents are crying out for a BBC service that provides them with local news, opportunities to alert their neighbours to events, concerns, up to the minute information about what is happening in the County - BBC Dorset is really important for the County and all its residents. It would help businesses, visitors, rural communities to keep in touch and alert/inform others of what is happening in the County as well as providing a much needed service for all ages who are increasingly turning to local radio for local information, other media concentrating on more national and global issues. The BBC would be given overwhelming support from Dorset, there is so much going on and such a desire to listen from residents and to feed back. Please consider Dorset BBC Radio a very worthwhile service and at this time of change to services, the switch to digital, an excellent service that would provide continuity for BBC's listeners and views.

Rebecca Knox, Town Councillor Beaminster
Dorset very much needs its own local radio station. The county is starved of local news and ways in which to reach residents, help them share information in a rural area; radio is a very important and much listened to medium. Dorset dwellers, the local economy, visitors, farming community etc could all benefit enormously from Dorset Radio - it would provide a much needed link and network.

MAGS CHUE
Why does Dorset have to be the forgotten county? All the news programmes we receive cover parts of Somerset and Devon. Very infrequently there is a mention of Dorset. Please let us have coverage of our area.

Patrick Tuffnell
Given the current financial problems facing the BBC it seems perverse to cost-cut on relatively small projects like a local FM radio station for Dorset, with all the social impact that entails, when there are much bigger fish to fry within the Corporation's overall mandate. Perhaps Jonathon Ross should be asked to make a donation!

Jerry Pett
The BEEB should stop investing its money in worthless entertainment and keep investing in local, useful, eduational and service orientated programmes. There are loads of far better ways of saving money than scrapping this very useful and much needed community service.

Keith Murray
Yes I am disappointed. I have no online audio or video capability on my pc and therefore without considerable expense would not be able to benefit from such a service. I'm sure I'm not unique in this way and that many older people, who probably value radio or TV as source of information and not pcs, would be disadvantaged by the planned online service and abandonment of the local radio station plan. Not everyone owns an adequate pc nor is everyone computer competent, but vertually all households will have a radio and would benefit from that source if the planned station is not abandoned.SincerelyKeith Murray

Ed Harland
This clearly demonstrates the BBC's lack of interest in Dorset. The closure of Dorset FM some years ago and foisting Solent upon us was an equally unacceptable move. The online service is of little use for those of us in the more rural areas where broadband is still a (literally) distant drea. and video and audio feeds not possible.It would be better to concentrate the true broadcasting on the rural areas and close down the city stations where broadband is readily available!

Andrew Bailey.
This seems incredible that Dorset shouldnt have its own radio station,particularly when in West Dorset there is so little choice of stations with good reception.We seem to have ended up with a black hole between Radio Solent,Radio Devon and Radio Bristol.The effect of this is that news,weather and traffic reports are mostly irrelevant to us.Please lets have a station which serves the local area promoting a stronger community.

Tim Linford
Very disappointed to hear of this decision which I hope will be reconsidered. The forthcoming changeover to digital looks as if it too will be a disaster as full signal strength will not be provided from day one. West Dorset is isolated enough without being abandoned by the BBC. On these two counts the BBC needs to up its game and provide the public broadcasting service for which we pay the licence fee. Extra channels full of old repeats and on line services are fine but are no substitute for a basic local service that we can all receive adequately.

Sue Moody
I thinbk it would be a huge mistake to scrap our local radio as it is enjoyed by many of all ages.In particular here in sherborne we have a lfar larger than usual percentage of elderly and retired people, many of whom listen extensively. They are exactly the kind of people who may nmot be able to contact you on line as they do not use computers like younger professionals and students do; yet they are the very people who most enjoy and rely on the local radio to make them feel part of the local community.

Nicki Brunt
It would be a great benefit to have complete coverage for the county, rather than always being on the fringe of other areas. Please reconsider.

Fred Humphrey ( ex BBC staff)
We are disappointed that there is to be no radio Dorset - neither Solent, nor Devon/Cornwall cover the area very well at all and 'on-line' is just not the same. The age range of Dorset tends to be older than average, and many of this group of folks just don't get 'online' at all. I know you have budget cuts, but please reconsider!

Ron Nash, Chesil Bank county councillor
So no Radio Dorset. Put it on the list of other media services I dont have!! Online news is little use with no workable broadband connection. Here there is no local TV news. A little coverage is given by Southampton (which I cant receive) and almost no coverage from Plymouth (which I do receive). No freeview, whatever that is. No channel 5, no DAB radio, and all wrapped in a 3G mobile black hole. December the internet dial up service is to stop. Lets complete the isolation and switch off analogue TV!! On the bright side there is radio 2 and BBC1 so I have a good knowledge of the midlands motorway jams and middle east conflicts respectively.I can see BBC going to litigation to collect its licence fee at this rate.Ron Nash

Humphrey Walwyn (ex BBC for 20 years)
I am most distressed that Radio Dorset is apparently now not going to happen? You say that Radio Solent covers our area? It does not! Solent covers an area from Portsmouth through Southampton to Bournemouth. It never mentions anything west of Dorchester. Its catchment is simply too large to pay attention to relatively small but important areas like west Dorset (or even Specifically Dorset rather than most of the South coast!)And we can't even receive Radio Solent in Bridport/Burton Bradstock anyway, so even if you did mention local news we wouldn't hear it!The suggestion that the BBC's online services would cover our area instead is laughable. I can cover local news online from a variety of other sources if I have web access. But nobody has web access when we are driving in the car, doing the washing up or gardening or lieing in bed... those are the times when we listen to the radio and are not glued to our computer screens. I cannot see that a small sub-station giving - say - 4-5 hours of local news/music per day - with the rest of the day's program feed perhaps coming from Solent - would be an overly expensive option? I completely agree with our MP Oliver Letwin's views. Dorset is a big county and is worthy of its own dedicated broadcasts. Many thanksHumphrey Walwyn

Jeremy Powne
There is definitely need for better news coverage of Dorset - scope for a good reporter.I read both the Western Gazette and the Dorset Echo and often one will cover an important Dorchester story which doesn't even get mentioned in the other.I listen to Solent for "local" news at 7 a.m. but, for instance, this morning, they were concentrating at great length on some Portsmouth issue of no interest to me at all so I reverted to R4 and this sort of thing happens too frequently. Let's have a proper Radio Dorset news bulletin.

David Venn
The BBC coverage of Dorset has become so poor that it is a real surprise when there is any 'local' news. West Dorset in particular seems to be a forgotten area that is poorly served by the BBC - it is not good enough considering we all pay the same for our licences.

Dr Malcolm Hay
I am bitterly disappointed at the BBC's decision to cancel the (imminent) introduction of Radio Dorset. There is no local BBC FM radio service in my area and I do not enjoy listening to Ivel FM or Orchard FM, both of which emphasise events and stories from Somerset and both of which are commercial stations. Somerset Sound is on MW and none of the other BBC stations have reception in my area (BBC Bristol, Solent, etc). As an equal contributor with everyone else to the BBC's licence fee, I feel that we in Dorset have been discriminated against and sorely let down by the BBC. I would be happy to pay a higher licence fee if this would preserve what the BBC has offered in the past and if it would remove the threats to existing and new services.

Sheila Pett
How can the BBC get away with not providing a basic service to the population as a whole? It is scandalous that a whole county of England is ignored in this, the 21st century? This county suffers from poor reception of radio & TV in many areas, no local radio station from the BBC (Radio Solent does not cover most of us and its contents are mostly not for Dorset anyway), and poor or no coverage of local news on either radio or television. Even DAB is incomplete with no idea when it will be completed. Come on BBC, show that you do care and that you do intend to give Dorset a decent service which we all thought was part of your remit in return for our license fee. After all, we all have to pay the same fee whether we receive news of our area or not! Surely the cost of providing a local radio station is a very small amount out of your total budget. You've let us down!

Paul McIntosh
Regarding my travels outside of the county I am amazed at the number of BBC local radio stations which appear on my car radio. Dorset with its position of being split geographically down the middle of regional services needs a coherant and dedicated county station.

Eric Alley
This is a very shortsighted move by the BBC. Dorset has always been on the fringe of any BBC operation and it is obvious that the BBC does not consider the Jurassic Coast of any importance. In addition the decision does not take into account the advent of the Olympic Games at Weymouth and Portland and all the media coverage that will entail.

ANNE AND TONY COMBE
Just as all the dedicated work of numerous people was coming to fruition to establish a much needed radio station for Dorset the BBC decided to axe the proposal. What a shameful and lamentable decision that dashed the hopes of so many people who thought that finally Dorset would get some sort of recognition by the BBC.We are sick and tired of the money we give to the BBC through the ever increasing license fee and not getting local value for money. We are appalled at the obscene salaries paid to presenters like Jonathon Ross etc: which,as far as we are concerned,could be put to a much more beneficial use: namely a radio station for Dorset! Why do we have to have the news read by two presenters and why do we have so many repeats of so many programs.The list goes on!Hopefully, enough people will become incensed by this latest BBC decision and bombard them with as many letters, emails etc as possible so that they have second thoughts about what they have done. A threat to hold back a part of the license fee might be in order.

The Powell Family
I don't understand what criteria Devon and other rural counties meet that allows them to have local radio that Dorset doesn't.Like the residents of Devon I pay for the BBC but I appear to be getting less value for money. Discrimination that may have to be legally challenged? Please provide this county with the radio station the vast majority clearly want. p.s. When will I be able to use the DAB radio I was given for my birthday last year?

Ian Miller
Who has Dorset upset? We seem to be always the poor relation - low financial allocation, poor reportage on both BBC & ITV and even the weather forecasters seem to hate the west of the county - they always stand in front of Weymouth/Dorchester. Others have commented about Radio Solent and I agree that that station does its best (probably) but ignores much of the county.Come on BBC - we all pay our licence fee and deserve better.

Philip Elliott
If we are getting a reduced radio service in Dorset compared to other counties then why do we have to pay the same licence fee as those who get the full service from the BBC?Does the BBC even know where Dorset is?

Graham Ferguson
The decision to cancel Radio Dorset is a durther example of Dorset being (particularly West Dorset) being below the BBC radar. It is either Plymouth / Exeter or Porsmouth / Southampton. Nothing in between.

Phil Drake
Dorset has for long been the poor relation when it comes to coverage by the BBC. No one TV or radio station covers the whole of the County. Therefore Bournemouth never hears about Bridport and Swanage never hears about Shaftesbury.So we pinned our hopes on a Radio Dorset (and while we waited we put up with pathetic reception on FM and 5 LIve). Radio Solent does its best, but no doubt Hampshire and the Isle of Wight people are as fed up with their appendage as we are with them.Now the final insult. No Radio Dorset but we can receive some coverage on line. This is completely unacceptable and no substitute for Radio coverage.We will not give up! In the meantime, can we at least have an hour or so, morning and evening, of news and local interest. I am sure this can be achieved by some rebalancing of priorities.

Steve Campbell
Appalling. Where I live in West Dorset we have poor TV reception, no digital reception and nearly all the Southwest news centres on Cornwall and Devon.Now we're not even going to get Radio Dorset. Solent is completely irrelevant.

Mrs A V Cavill
I am extremely upset about Radio Dorset being cancelled. I listen to the radio most of the day and find Radio Solent very partisan with regard to Hampshire in particular. I dont have an online service at home so the new proposals do not help me or satisfy me in the least. I am already VERY unhappy about the digital switch over. I do not think that it should be imposed on us as it has been. At the very least we in Dorset should have our own radio station. Please take note of this comment. Thank you, yours sincerely, Anna Cavill

Barry Freeman
Dorset - where radio and TV cannot reach in the 21st Century. We have to suffer local tv news about Cornwall and Devon. There are pockets where the car radio only picks up Radio Berkshire and not Radio4! We don't care about shipping in the Solent or Navy departures in Plymouth. GIVE DORSET LOCAL RADIO AND TV!!!

Victor Clark
Dorset is an individual rural county, one of the largest in the UK. Many of its inhabitants live in small villages, and often need to have access to local news through a local radio station. even national digital radio is poor at times.

Mr C J Perrin
Many areas of the south west are poorly covered by both television and radio channels. In my part of Dorset (Sherborne) we have to make do with points west rather than our own local TV. Whilst we understand that this is due to geographical reasons, it could be compensated by a decent LOCAL radio service.Please have a re-think.

Pete Hill
Not only is some of the region not going to receive all of the digital TV stations, but now we are to lose the planned local radio as well! I assume there will be a cut in the licence fee to compensate.

R Hallett
Was very disappointed about Radio Dorset. I listen to the radio all the time and Radio Solent to get Dorset news. I don't want to have my local news online. So please find something else to cut ie the ridiculus amount of money paid to to some Radio & TV presenters who I don't want to hear or see.

pauline james
We seem to be the poor man of the south/southwest for TV&Radio coverage,It's about time we in Dorset had OUR OWN radio station!with news/programs that affect US in DORSET - not the rest of southern England!I don't want to know what's going on in Brighton or Lands End!

Patricia Campbell
I'm amazed that the BBC have decided to drop plans for Radio Dorset. If, as I do, you live in West Dorset coverage from Radio Devon (as we used to have) would be more relevant than coverage from Radio Solent. As with TV coverage of Dorset issues, once again we're left out. It wouldn't be so bad if Spotlight covered Dorset news but we barely get a look in, with most of the content coming from Cornwall - or Plymouth - Exeter if we're lucky!

Tamara Essex
Dorset has always been ignored by BBC radio and tv. Plus I can barely get Radio 4 when driving around the Shaftesbury area! I'm very disappointed by this decision, it feels like we're being left out again and our events and our news won't be broadcast. Aren't WE entitled to a BBC service too?

Derek Blackett
This is virtually the last straw. I wouldn't necessarily listen to Radio Dorset, but I regard this as highly symbolic of the BBC's treatment of this area. A lot of BBC money is going towards BBC3 and BBC4 TV stations, but I have never been able to receive these by freeview. Yet I still have to pay the full license fee to the BBC. As I don't watch a great deal of TV anyway, I shall stop paying my license from the next renewal.

Norman J. Mayo
Not only do we NOT have a separate radio station for Dorset neither do we have adequate local TV news coverage, Weymouth and the surrounding areas are added as an after thought after Devon Cornwall and Somerset. It is about time the BBC thought about the whole of Dorset instead of relaying news which is of no interest to the people of Dorset!!!!

Sarah Carter
Surely it is not too much to expect a comprehensive TV and radio service for our locality in return for our licence fee.

Carole Harris
The South West and particularly Dorset are very poorly treated by the media. The television local news does not really cover much in this area and now we won't be getting our local radio station. Why on earth do we continue to pay the BBC too much money for very little in return. I am all for commercials to fund the BBC then we might be served properly

Shirley Sato
As a Dorset resident, I am not bothered at all!

David Rymer Smith
Being on the edge of Hampshire & Devon, both of which enjoy local radio services, Dorset is largely ignored and has very little coverage. A local radio station would be invaluable and a much better way of applying the reduced budget than , for example, empoying a variety double act to present the morning news on TV. Please rethink this planned cut.

Gill Francis
I am extremely disappointed with the decision. I was looking forward to a station that covered the county, especially as South Today seems to think Dorset ends at Poole. I don't bother listening to Solent - too much Hampshire stuff which has no relevance. And I am tired of BBC advertising their radio stations on tv when there is nothing of use to us in West Dorset. If we can't have our own how do BBC justify keeping the others such as Berkshire and Solent? Please reinstate this proposal asap!

June Salt
I am extremely disappointed; it will mean that Dorset is still not exsisting as far as the BBC is concerned. We rarely see any news from Weymouth or Dorchester and still less from any smaller town or village. The weather girl/man almost always stands in front of the weather forecast on the television. Radio, which is our choice of news, is again rarely concerning Dorset. This decision should be revisited.

Helen Reed
I live in North Dorset in a village called broad oak I cannot get radio solent in doors or radio bristol in my car My tv station in HTV west which does not give news about my area at all the nears it get with weather is wincanton 15 miles away and that on its edge traffic news does not cover me at all we appear to be in a nomans land therefor I now rearly watch tv or lissen to radio whats the point. Its all very well having on line services but thats not in bedroom or my bathroom or come to that my garden. Please please please think of use poor dorset people surely we deserve a service too.

A West Dorset Dweller
We are starved of radio stations in this part of the world - I can't even receive R1, R2 or R4 in my house- a local BBC station would help to reach people like me. Please reinstate your plans to launch Radio Dorset.

Richard Bull
We live in Lyme Regis and Radios Bristol, Solent and Devon just do not serve us, so this decision is a great set back. In fact, Radio Devon tries hard to fill the gap in its own way - it has the best and most accurate weather, but you can't receive it "down the bottom of the valley" in Lyme, only in Uplyme (which is in Devon) and then only with a good fixed rooftop VHF (not UHF) aerial. Solent contains stuff from just too far away and not relevant to rural West Dorset. So the decision is a shame for Dorset! Online service is not a radio service as far as I am concerned, computer savvy though I might be. There is nothing more immediately available than a radio "on" switch!Richard Bull

Alan F
Deep disappointment. If Radio Solent deals with Dorset at all, which IMHO is extremly rare, it acts as though Dorset finishes at Bournemouth and anything west of there is 'injun territory'! As to content, I feel that for a radio station, it (and particularly Julian Clegg) whitters on far too much about what was and will be on television. For someone who doesn't have a television this is of no interest whatsoever.

Adrian Stear
Why have a Radio Dorset? Why not a Radio Puddletown? A Radio Bradford Peverell? Dorset is just too small and uninteresting to justify having its own radio station paid for with public money. The BBC is too big and does too much as it is...

Joy Wallis
Dorset is cut in half by both BBC and ITV for regional interest and news. Consequently we are on the far borders of various programmes. So Dorset is well overdue for a dedicated service. We are so often marginalised or even just plain ignored

Gordon Corbridge
I understand the need to save money and stay within the allocated budget, we all have to do that. Dorset Radio would have been a great resource for this area. I take note of the wasteful practices that the BBC has and the money that is concentrated in particular areas. I don't think we are well served by the London centric management or the restrictive practices at all levels.

Alan J Gillard
Dorset is very badly served by the BBC, There is no local Radio or Television. The 'Local' television we receive gives traffic news for Devon and Cornwall. There is no local news input. Dorset area deserves much better Radio and Television cover.

Derek Turnbull
I am deeply upset that the BBC has decided to scrap the proposed BBC Dorset radio station. Dorset has been poorly served by the BBC, on tv and radio. Please, please reconsider this decision - Dorset desperately needs this new station!

Susan
This is a disgrace! Perhaps one of the BBC's executives would like to swap homes with me and see what it's like to live in the Sherborne area with no local radio. Online services are no substitute!! Perhaps the 'Fatcats' should take a lower bonus and put it back into the budget! I hope the BBC changes it's mind on this matter and widens it's tunnel vision and look at it's budgets again!

Sue
I listen to Solent which is good but am fed up of hearing about Southampton and Portsmouth as though nowhere else exists.

Dr Malcolm Hay
I cannot receive Radio Solent in West Dorset (Sherborne) nor any other local BBC FM service. I do not wish to listen to the local commercial stations (Ivel, Orchard) as they serve the interests of Somerset. As licence payers we should all have access to a local BBC radio station. Online news services are no substitute.Please reconsider your decision.

Frederick
Compared with many other parts of the country we are already deprived of media accessibilty. We need Radio Dorset for the whole county now.

Allun and Anna
Dorset is a diverse county ranging from the urban south coast to the rural North and West and even in the more rural areas, towns such as Gillingham are expanding quickly. - A unitary voice for the county would help to reflect and develop it as a distinct entity. A BBC Radio station would help a lot.

Audrey Loukes
We don't need online servies we would like our own radio station. What on earth is the BBC doing its money? Overpaying certain members of staff is the answer.

Hughie, Nr Dorchester
On a scale of 1 to 10 I rate this proposal as minus 47. The BBC wastes millions every year and it is about time they put their house in order.

Jon R
I think it is unbelievable there is no Dorset Radio station. There is BBC Radio Cornwall, Devon, so why not Dorset! Some counties have more than one! Yorkshire for instance has 4. I lived in Leeds for a while and you could easily receive a quality signal from radio's Leeds, Sheffield AND York.....a county well served, as opposed to a county not served AT ALL!What kind of compromise is adding more content to the BBC Dorset web site? How can you compare two totally different types of media? That's like saying you can't have local news on the TV but we will add it to the web site!!! Oh no wait....bad example, they're planning to do that as well arn't they?

Jane Smith
I think it is a disgrace that Dorset is not, after all, to have its own radio station. The service provided by Radio Solent is not an adequate service for Dorset, which is further disadvantaged in its TV coverage, which is spread between 3 regions, none of them providing the service we have paid for through the license fee. Investing in local online services is not a substitute for the lack of proper local radio for Dorset, as it is inaccessible to a significant proportion of the population. Come on BBC, reinstate Radio Dorset to your plans!

Adrian W
The very West of Dorset, West of Dorchester, cannot receive Radio Solent (too many hills in the way) and we have no news coverage by Radio Devon ( not their county). There is a lot happening in the West such as preparation for the Olympic Sailing and we will not have any word of it. The BBC was very close to launching Radio Dorset please could money be found to carry out this vital local communication. North Dorset is no better served.

Roy
Dorset needs a coordinating public medium ie. radio and TV. It does not have these esential items. An Online Web Site will not do. This is is applicable to only a limited numbers not the whole population. Radio is the medium to use. The BBC knows this as it was planned to have such a station. It is needed now.

Ken Pett
The cancellation of BBC Radio Dorset on FM is extremely disappointing and is unacceptable for a county that, in the words of the BBC, is badly "underserved". They were actualy already working on this and were nearly ready to launch it when the cut backs were announced, and so it wouldn't take much to get it going again!In the South & West Dorset Broadcasting Action Group's survey,(see web site for more details at www.SWEDBAG.org.uk) 95% of residents (almost 4,000 replied which is about 10% of the population) demanded Radio Dorset.We still demand this service and strongly ask the BBC to reconsider their hasty decision. Providing a proper local service is surely what the BBC should be about? And adding local news to an online service, while of some use, is absolutely no substitute for a radio service - most people do not rely on a computer for their news!We want BBC Radio Dorset!

David C Fox (Blackmore Vale County Councillor)
Ourageous. Dorset has been let down once again. History repeats itself, despite us having as good a claim as Cornwall and other areas with their own station. A local BBC station helps to reinforce local identity and culture (Barnes, Hardy etc) and increase well-informed community involvement in decision-making. A decade ago this promise had ben made and was broken. The Producer of the Dorset station then got a job as the County Council's press officer and lo and behold being a subsidiary of Solent was lauded as a triumph with those in power having wool pulling over their eyes.

BARRY
If radio Dorset turned out the same as solent,then they have done us all a favour.

Simon R
When there was Dorset FM (p/t station with radio Devon)only covered West Dorset leaving Poole and East Dorset with Solent, which didnt unite the county but putting the area under Solent did, I do not think its fair though that the likes of Guernsey and Jersey each have there own station and also most english countys have there own aswell.There needs to be a new station for the whole county as it is larger enough

Mark
Dorset always seems to be the forgotten county. We never get the services we deserve, yet we pay the licence fee the same as every one else. As Alex said stream off the website, or transmit via Sky Digital (I would said Freeview as well but that's another kettle of fish!)

Alex Flahive
From the array of responses, I seem to represent Dorset.Maybe nobody cares?

Lewis
I dont understand why Dorset did not have proper radio station anyway.Radio Solent is very good to listen to but it would much better if there was a BBC Dorset

Alex Flahive
Stream radio off the BBC Dorset website? That would at least cater for one market.