KMFM Thanet is an Independent Local Radio serving the Isle of Thanet and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.

History[link]

KMFM Thanet began life as Thanet Local Radio (TLR 107.2), founded by Alan Mackay, Ken Wills and Pete Willson (now station manager at Academy FM (Thanet)), and launching in January 1998 from studios at Margate harbour. The launch was not without drama - four months prior, the Radio Authority gave the station the green light on the licence after some alleged internal legal wrangles between the company's directors.^[2]

Pete Willson was the first voice on-air; the first song to be played was Take That's "Back For Good", with reggae star Pato Banton recording a special version of his duet with UB40, "Baby Come Back", for the station's launch. The station's line-up was largely unchanged for five years.

TLR was originally owned by a consortium of local investors, with local businessman Ken Wills being the majority shareholder. The KM Group took control of TLR in 1999, and subsequently bought out the other investors in March 2003; rebranding the station to KMFM Thanet^[3] and relocating it to their own premises in Cliftonville. Following the arrival of the county-wide breakfast, all KMFM programming is now broadcast from Medway.

It was the first station to be fully owned by the KM Group.^[2]

The licence was readvertised in September 2008,^[4] with the KM Group reawarded it.

Like the rest of the KMFM network, the station was relaunched in September 2010 with new jingles, schedule changes and more emphasis on music.

Programming[link]

All programming across the KMFM network is now shared across all seven stations following OFCOM approval in February 2012^[5]. The local breakfast show, by then the only local show on the station, was replaced hy a county-wide show on March 12, 2012.

Until 2007 KMFM Thanet produced its own programmes during daytimes, before it joined up with KMFM Canterbury to network all programmes other than breakfast. The stations joined together with KMFM Ashford and KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country to create an East Kent network in April 2009,^[6] before all programmes apart from weekday/Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons were networked across all KMFM stations in September 2009.^[7] In July 2010, Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons became networked.

News bulletins come from the KMFM News Centre in the Medway studios on the hour from 6am - 6pm on weekdays, and 8am - 1pm on weekends. National news bulletins come from Sky News Radio outside these times. Traffic and travel updates are broadcast just before the hour, and every 20 minutes between 7am - 9am and 4pm - 7pm.

Presenters[link]

Current presenters[link]

• Nigel Ansell
• Mark Benson
• Tony Blackburn
• Si Kennett
• Ed Matthews
• Bob Mower
• Andy Walker
• Rob Wills
• Gerry Wilson

Former presenters[link]

• Richard Adams
• "Doc" Atherton
• Dave "Davey B" Bethall
• Richard Cave
• Adam Dowling
• Vanessa Elms
• Howard Evans
• Neil Faraday
• Kevin Field
• Chris Finn
• Patrick Foster
• Nigel Harris
• Louis Hurst
• Spencer James
• Brian Jones
• Dominic King
• Emma Lee^[8]
• Johnny Lewis
• Tom Lowe
• Toby Mackenzie
• Jon Maxfield
• Paul Pearson
• Cheryl Pendry
• Neil Redding
• Kirsten Reed
• Jon Rogers^[3]
• Mike Russell
• Myma Seldon
• Benedict Smith
• Nick Snaith
• Tim Stewart^[9]
• Ian St James
• Mike Stevens^[3]
• Melanie Sykes
• Richard Walters^[10]
• John "Webbo" Webster
• Pete Willson^[3]
• Colin Woolven
• Jerry Wright
• Jonathan "LJ" Young

References[link]

External links[link]

• KMFM Thanet

Thanet District
—  Non-metropolitan district  —
Thanet shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Margate
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Thanet District Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative (council NOC))
• MPs	Sir Roger Gale Laura Sandys
Area
• Total	39.88 sq mi (103.30 km2)
Area rank	217th (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	132,200
• Rank	154th (of 326)
• Density	3,300/sq mi (1,300/km2)
• Ethnicity	95.4% White 1.5% S.Asian 1.1% Black 1.1% Mixed Race
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	29UN
OS grid reference	TR355705
Website	www.thanet.gov.uk

It is hoped that the new Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate will encourage tourism to the area.

Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England^[1] which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974. The Isle of Thanet makes up the major part of the District.

The district, which is governed by Thanet District Council, is located on the north eastern tip of Kent, and is predominantly coastal, with north, east and southeast facing coastlines. It is bordered by the City of Canterbury district to the west, and the Dover district to the south. The main towns in the district are Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs.

History[link]

The Isle of Thanet is the major part of the Thanet District. Formed over 7000 years ago and separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it has always borne the brunt of invasions from the Continent. An Isle of Thanet Rural District had existed from the Local Government Act 1894 until it was abolished in 1935 to form part of Eastry Rural District. The current District was formed in 1974, by the addition of the area over which was once the Wantsum Channel, including the settlement of Sarre.

Governance[link]

The current District is held by a Conservative majority, who hold 33 seats, compared to the 19 seats held by Labour, who are the second party.^[2]

There are two MPs for Thanet:

• Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet,
• Laura Sandys, Conservative MP for South Thanet.

The names of the civil parishes located in the district are:

• Acol
• Birchington
• Cliffsend
• Manston
• Minster
• Monkton
• St Nicholas-at-Wade

Broadstairs and St Peter's form Broadstairs and St Peter's, served by a town council, which has no more than the powers of a parish council.^[3] A town council was created for Ramsgate in 2009.^[4]

The town of Margate is an unparished area: it has a charter maintained by charter trustees, having been a municipal borough before 1974.

Demography[link]

In 2005 the estimated population of the District stood at 128,100.^[5]

List of People from Thanet

Economy[link]

Dreamland in Margate was a major tourist attraction before it closed, but is now being redeveloped.

The whole district suffers from seasonal unemployment, in spite of its proximity to London, because of various factors, among them being inward migration; high numbers of old people; and low numbers of affluent people. It is not helped by poor overall indicators for Health.^[6] In a study of resilience to economic downturns, Thanet was poorly rated at 295th out of 324 districts.^[7] Unemployment levels are nearly twice the South East of England as a whole, and as a result a great deal of planning is being done to encourage more businesses to relocate to the District.^[8] The Thanet & East Kent Chamber produces a weekly business digest, the Thanet & East Kent Insider, which reports on economic activity in the private and public sectors.

New Projects underway include: A new community centre for Broadstairs. Redevelopment and renovations are to be undertaken at Margate's Dreamland (a Heritage Amusement Park); Cliftonville (Lido site); and a Holiday Inn (hotel) now open .A large retail and residential development on Ramsgate seafront is due to start construction in 2011. Royal sands as well and a multi million pound art gallery The Turner Contemporary (opened by Tracey Emin in April 2011) in Margate and massive investment and building works taking place in schools across the island.

In addition, the District Council has introduced an empty property initiative and has compulsory purchased empty and derelict buildings with the objective of bringing them back into use.

The Thanet Offshore Wind Project, near North Foreland, began operating in September 2010. The project is expected to have a total capacity of up to 300 MW which, on average, is sufficient to supply approximately 240,000 homes per year with green energy. The project will thus make a significant contribution to the Government’s national and regional renewable energy targets. Thanet Earth is the largest greenhouse development in the UK covering an area of 91 hectares with 7 greenhouses each the size of 10 football pitches producing cucumbers tomatoes and peppers all year.^[9]

Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs each have shopping centres with a mix of local and national retailers complemented by Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Westgate and Birchington. Westwood at the centre of Thanet has seen much major development in recent years with the building of Westwood Cross shopping centre which is the home of national retailers and several restaurant chains including a Travelodge hotel. Associated development has taken place around the shopping centre spawning other retail parks.

Transport[link]

Thanet is now linked to London by high-speed "Javelin" trains.

The rail connections are via the Chatham Main Line through Margate to Ramsgate, and the Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line. New high speed rail links from London to Thanet began in December 2009,and it is now possible to travel from Margate to St Pancras at an average speed of 60 miles per hour (about 96 km/h). This will form part of the UK's first true high-speed commuter service, according to the South Eastern Railway Company.^[10] Main road links are the A28 which brings traffic from Canterbury and Ashford; and the A299, north coast route. The Saxon Shore Way Long distance footpath skirts the coast.

There is an airport at Manston,^[11] formerly RAF Manston, but since renamed by its commercial operators as Kent International Airport. Because it was used as an U.S. airbase during the second world war, it has one of the longest runways in the UK, and is designated by the United Nations as an emergency landing site for aircraft in trouble.^{[citation needed]}

Ferry services (predominantly freight and car with passengers) are operated by Transeuropa ferries to the Continent from Port of Ramsgate.^[12]

Health[link]

Thanet has a large hospital: the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, known as the QEQM.^[13] Extension work which started in 2007 is still ongoing, as of 2010.

As of July 2010, overall indicators of health are poor for Thanet:^[14]

• Health is worse in Thanet than in England on average
• Life expectancy is lower than for England
• There are health in equalities: in deprived areas life expectancy is 5 years lower for women and 10 years lower for men
• Teenage pregnancies are high compared to the England average
• Estimated smoking rates are average but death rates from smoking are significantly higher
• Binge drinking is around the national average
• Children are significantly less active than average
• Significantly higher than average number of people admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions
• Significantly higher than average rate of diabetes
• Significantly higher than average rate of mental health problems

Media[link]

Local newspapers are the Thanet Extra, part of the KM Group; Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times (merged with Adscene October 2009), all owned by Northcliffe Media; and the midweek Your Thanet published online by KOS Media. The county wide newspapers Kent on Saturday and Kent on Sunday also serve the district.

Local radio stations are

• KMFM Thanet (previously known as Thanet Local Radio) owned by the KM Group.(Most Programmes are networked with other KM Kent stations).
• Community non commercial station Academy FM Thanet on 107.8FM and online and via mobile app it broadcasts from within The Marlowe Academy Ramsgate .
• The county-wide Heart Kent,
• BBC Radio Kent.

National TV stations carry regional news: The ITV1 service is provided currently by Meridian Broadcasting; and the BBC South East Today.

Thanet also has a local online radio and podcasting service currently operating online only known as 'Thanet Community Radio' (TCR). The station works closely with Dover based 'Dover Community Radio' (DCR) which operates in a similar way.

Education[link]

Thanet College is a major provider of further education in East Kent and a Training Provider that works with local businesses to raise the level of education across the region.

Climate[link]

Thanet enjoys a Maritime climate being surrounded on 3 sides by sea, which generally results in mild winters and warm dry summers.

References[link]

1. ^ Thanet District website
2. ^ "2007 Election Results". Thanet District Council. http://www.thanet.gov.uk/news/latest_press_releases/election_results_04-05-07.aspx. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
3. ^ Broadstairs and St Peter's Town Council website
4. ^ The District of Thanet (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2009 Retrieved 19 May 2010
5. ^ Introduction to Thanet: includes demographic notes
6. ^ Association of Public Health Observatories - Health Profiles APHO Health Profiles
7. ^ "Thanet least resilient to economic woe, research finds". BBC News. 9 September 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-11164337. 
8. ^ Thanet District Corporate Plan 2007
9. ^ Thanet Earth Project
10. ^ Southeastern 2009 - your journey starts here: Home
11. ^ Kent International Airport
12. ^ "TransEuropa Ferries". http://www.transeuropaferries.co.uk/. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
13. ^ QEQM
14. ^ [Association of Public Health Observatories, Thanet Health Profile, July 2010

External links[link]

• Thanet Council YouTube channel
• Clubs and societies in Thanet
• Thanet College Website
• News, views and things to do in Thanet
• Academy FM Thanet
• Thanet Community Radio

v t e Towns and villages in the Thanet district of Kent, England Unparished areas Margate Civil parishes Acol Birchington Broadstairs and St Peter's (town) Cliffsend Manston Minster Monkton Ramsgate (town) Sarre St Nicholas-at-Wade Other settlements Broadstairs Brooks End Cliftonville Ebbsfleet Flete Garlinge Newington Palm Bay Sevenscore St Peters Westbrook Westgate-on-Sea Westwood List of places in Kent

v t e Districts of South East England Berkshire Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale Chiltern Milton Keynes South Bucks Wycombe East Sussex Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden Hampshire Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Kent Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Shepway Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Oxfordshire Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire Surrey Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking West Sussex Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

Coordinates: 51°22′N 1°23′E / 51.367°N 1.383°E / 51.367; 1.383