ABC Upper Hunter

ABC Upper Hunter (call sign: 2UH) is an Australian radio station. It is the Upper Hunter service of the ABC Local Radio network, and serves Muswellbrook and surrounding areas.

History

ABC Upper Hunter commenced as a local relay of Newcastle's 2NC (now 1233 ABC Newcastle) in 1964. While there was some local information on the station, the reporter responsible was based in Newcastle. It wasn't until 1990 when a local office of the ABC was established in the Upper Hunter, basing itself in Market Lane Muswellbrook. Mike Pritchard joined the broadcaster from the Scone Advocate newspaper, and has been the station's rural reporter ever since, even acting as the lone employee in the region on occasion. In 1997, the station moved to its current facilities in Brook Street.

Throughout 2009, the station's programming went on hiatus while the studios were upgraded with digital equipment. Rural programming came from ABC New England North West, while local news and other programming continued to originate from ABC Newcastle. Regular programming resumed mid-year once the upgrade was complete.

Upper Hunter Shire

The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires.

The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire Council is Cr. Wayne Bedggood.

Towns

The towns of the Upper Hunter are Scone, Aberdeen, Murrurundi, and Merriwa, as well as several villages, including Bunnan, Gundy, Moonan Flat, Ellerston, Wingen, Blandford and Cassilis. Of the towns, only Aberdeen on the Shire's south eastern border is situated on the Hunter River.

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 13,754 people in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area, of these 49.9 per cent were male and 50.1 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.9 per cent of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Upper Hunter Shire was 39 years, which was marginally higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.2 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.4 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 51.6 per cent were married and 11.6 per cent were either divorced or separated.