West Coast Radio Chairman Ian Bassett-Scarfe to step down after 40 years

After four decades as West Coast Radio’s Chairman of the Board, Ian Bassett-Scarfe  – the man who helped bring commercial radio to Mandurah – is stepping down.

Ian will hand the reins to his son, Adam.

A Mandurah local, Ian was an integral part of the West Coast Radio story, joining forces with school friend Ian Willock and brother-in-law Les Brown to try to win the commercial licence for a Mandurah radio station.

Up against three other applicants, in 1986 the choice was made to merge with another group of locals led by Lance Rock, Owen Tuckey and Peter Sutton.

Ian believed this decision would give them the best chance at winning the licence, which they did the following year.

One of his fondest memories was the opening of the radio station on Mandurah Terrace on March 18, 1988 and its first broadcast on AM station 6MM.

West Coast Radio launched its first FM station, Coast FM, in 1996.

In 2018, its second FM station, The Wave, hit the airwaves, replacing 6MM.

And whilst it’s the end of an era for him, Ian says he leaves with pride and the satisfaction of a job well done.

“l am confident that my son Adam with the board voting him in, will do a good job at bringing fresh input into the station and I wish him well,” he said.

West Coast Radio is the only privately owned shareholder station in Western Australia.

*Newspaper article credit: Coastal Districts Times