Studio building

Building work has started on the studios for Hertfordshire's new local radio station, which will open in March 2001.

The studios, which will be among the most advanced in the country, will be in the old Pump House at Knebworth Park.

Conversion work on the historic property will continue through the summer.

HertBeat vice-chairman Robbie Owen said: "We hope to be able to move in shortly before Christmas with the intention of going on air early next year."

He added: "Knebworth is a place all our listeners identify with. We have a licence to serve Hertford, Ware, Hatfield, Welwyn and Stevenage. We were reluctant to locate in any one of the town centres for fear that listeners living in the other four towns might feel they were losing out. We wish to be seen to be serving them all equally."

Robbie said that the decision to have the studios at Knebworth had followed several weeks of negotiations with the Knebworth Trust, which is carrying out the conversion work.

The Pump House was built over a well which once supplied the water to the Knebworth estate. Now new internal walls are going up to provide a main on-air studio, a news studio and a production studio that will be used for pre-recording items and for training. In addition there will be offices and a conference room.

Robbie said: "This is a historic building in a beautiful park and the conversion work has to be respectful of that. We want a studio block that enhances the area whilst providing a state of the art broadcasting facility. We shall be installing our broadcasting equipment as soon as the builders have finished. We are investing heavily in the latest technology and we want to use it to provide the best possible service to listeners."

To see The Radio Authorities' assessment of HertBeat's application click here.