Great news for us and 24 other community groups at last night’s Overview and Scrutiny meeting at Brentwood Borough Council, after the news that the recently awarded Localism Share Fund grants would go ahead, ending a week of uncertainty and anxiety for many people around the borough.

The meeting was conducted with regulation efficiency by the O&S Chairman and Vice Chairman, Cllr David Tee and Cllr Karen Chilvers. The matter of process was looked into, the officers stated there was no problem to answer and the three councillors who sparked the call-in of the original decision – Mayor Cllr Ann Coe, Cllr Roger McCheyne and Cllr Will Russell – fell in line with the overall mood of the room and backed Cllr Chilvers’ motion that the original awards should stand. We can now carry on shopping for our studio 2 build, and everyone gets a happy Christmas.

I was rather concerned to hear one of the three councillors, Roger McCheyne, state early on that “bid 92” (that’s us) received a large sum from the council the previous year and it might be fairer if the money was spread around more evenly. I’d wholeheartedly agree with that – if it was true. Last year, the council awarded a grant to Brentwood Leisure Trust in order to refurbish some unused changing rooms so that they could be rented out to us – at a market rate. We got a bigger studio – which we have agreed to pay for – but to say we benefitted financially from that is very wide of the mark. I had a very friendly converstaion with Cllr McCheyne after the meeting. My understanding is that he was given this information by the officers of the council and if that is the case, it would be nice to have the confidence that our bids could be treated fairly with correct information at people’s disposal – I don’t think any other group bidding would ask for any less.

I was also more than a bit disappointed that Cllr McCheyne told me he was approached by someone who wondered why a “commercial organisation” should receive funding in any case. When I explained that Phoenix FM is a non-profit organisation, he said ah, but you run commercials! Since Ofcom, PRS, PPL etc won’t give us the required licences for free, let alone rent, insurance and so on, I think it’s a good idea that we do generate other income streams, just as other charities and non-profit orgs have to make money to pay their bills too. I’ve had 16 years of explaining this to people and it looks like I’ve got a few more years yet. I think it’s important to state again that we’re not a commercial radio station – I don’t think Heart Essex or their shareholders would put up with a lot of the diverse and unusual programmes we put out, and I’m proud of that.

The Mayor, Cllr Ann Coe, was more concerned about Cllr Russell Quirk’s recent performances on the airwaves of the local community radio station. She said that there was a public perception about Russell coming in to talk, although I was unable to find out what the exact problem was in giving people a platform to air their views. Russell is not on “all the time”, as the Mayor’s husband has stated on Twitter – and I’d be horrified if people really thought we should be “regulated” just because we allow certain people to come in and talk! (Of course as a fully-licensed FM radio station we’re already regulated quite extensively, but that’s by the by). Russell – who, as a former presenter, is a great believer in community radio – has only been on air twice recently, to talk about William Hunter Way and the Shenfield by-election. I have invited other Conservative councillors to come in and give a counterview, but I did not receive any reply. The opportunity was taken up by Labour, the Lib Dems and UKIP and I hope the Conservatives will follow suit again in the future. Russell is undoubtedly a hot topic at the moment and our listeners do want to hear what he wants to say – I want to ensure that all sides have their say too.

Thanks to every councillor last night who unanimously backed the decision to approve the original funding for all of the concerned community groups last night. Season’s greetings to you ALL …