Burl. Thanks for agreeing with me (Oh and hello...Long time no see!) Everyone who has worked at the BBC both National and Local, fully understand that they have their own agenda, and don't forget, Local Radio wasn't set up to service local communities originally.
Imagine during the cold war, some idiot decided to drop "The Bomb" on London...How would the remains of the government communicate with the public? Not from London obviously...Imagine a bicycle wheel with a broadcasting hub in an undisclosed place...out in the country somewhere...The spokes of this wheel stretched out to a miriad of little radio stations...Thus allowing information to be relayed.
Obviously nowadays, this is all a bit redundant, with the Internet et al. So, Local Radio is being dumbed down, because it has ceased to be relevant. That's the way the cookie crumbles. And first up against the wall are specialist music programmes.
Personally I foresee the end of "Local" BBC stations in the next 10 years. Which would be a shame, if only for the reason that really good broadcasters/engineers learnt their craft there.