Actually I was going to post something on this on Friday, but ran out of time. This entire thing has been a comedy of errors and it’s not over yet. And what a strange story it is.

You might title it:
 
New Brampton AM Station Delayed By Parking Dispute!
 
Here’s the tale behind the Cdn. Radio News headline:
 
When CIRF was granted its licence in 2015, they had an antenna site all picked out. It was located at 79 Bramsteele Rd. near Hwy. 410 and Heartlake Rd. South in Brampton.
 
The first and last month's rent was paid, and all seemed a go, with plans to repave part of the lot for other tenant parking, since the land would be used for the antenna.
 
But then the Ministry of Transport stepped in, citing a ruling that all such structures had to be at least 46 feet away from a highway – and that the 410 was too close.
 
Then the City of Brampton objected to the antenna’s shape and it was back to the drawing board again. They redesigned the thing, at considerable expense, and things were back on track. 

Or not. 

They decided to put the big stick elsewhere on the Bramsteele property to be within the highway regulations. But that would affect the parking plans, and one of the tenants took the landlord to court - and won. The result? No place to put 1350’s transmitter. Or as Joni Mitchell might have put it, "They took out the antenna and put up a parking lot."   
 
The deal was off.
 
It took another three months, but Radio Humsafar finally found another site 6 km away. Problem solved? Not exactly.
 
This time, the CRTC said no, citing incomplete information for the request and the danger of changing the contours of the station’s signal. So now they’re appealing to the Commission to change its mind, saying they’re running out of options – and the entire debacle has cost them over $200,000 so far.  
 
Which leads to one question – have we got another CKNT-signs-on-seven-years-after-getting-the-go-ahead scenario on our hands?

Stay tuned. I’m not trying to make fun of them and I’m sure this has been aggravating, but what an absolutely insane story that’s now four years from the date of the licence being granted – and counting.

Radio Humsafar? Not so far.