Super-Fast Broadband: Latest News

As previously reported the current Labour administration in Telford & Wrekin Council declined to participate in the initial bid for super-fast broadband provision, claiming that it was “a waste of money”. Cajoled by the Conservative opposition and particularly led by my colleague Cllr. Eric Carter they have now changed tack and after fairly lengthy process have gained access to a total pot of £4 million in government funds, which they claim will be sufficient to provide 96% super-fast broadband coverage within the Borough by 2017.

As of last Friday, 14th November invitations to tender for the necessary work were closed. Tenders will have between three and four months to be received.

The process by which public funds are deployed is like many others these days, controlled by EU rules. These require that any investment results in a “step-change in broadband capability” such at least a doubling of line speed and also that there is no publicly funded competition with private provision.

This latter requirement is particular significant as it results in a three-way categorisation of the Borough as follows:

• Grey area: there is one existing provider, therefore not eligible for public funding.
• Black area: there are (or shortly will be) two private providers, therefore not eligible for public funding.
• White area: no existing provision and none likely within the next three years, therefore eligible for public funding.

Of 4,621 postcodes in Telford & Wrekin 1,101 are categorised “white” (23.83%).

Once tenders have been received and evaluated a winning bidder will be appointed to carry out the required infrastructure upgrade. There are two elements to this:

1. Exchange enablement

2. Cabinet upgrade

Of these the second stage remains problematic as it will be demand-led, meaning that the decision to upgrade a local cabinet (the junction box which your home or business is connected to) remains with the network wholesaler (BT Openreach in most cases). If the wholesaler does not believe there is a commercial basis to upgrade it won’t happen. In practice this means that the need to continue monitoring provision in your area remains and it may be a necessity to mobilise friends and neighbours to achieve the demand threshold.

November Advice Surgery

This month's Advice Surgery will be this coming Saturday 15th November from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

Open to all ward residents this is your chance to raise issues of concern, or simply ask for clarification on any aspect of life in Horsehay & Lightmoor.

Please note that the Village Hall committee have investedin a new porch covering the entrance doors and here is currently no step-free access.

October Advice Surgery

This month's Advice Sugery is set for Saturday 18th October, 10.30 - 11.30 a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

With yet another unwelcome housing development in the offing this is your chance to express an opinion and get some guidance on this or indeed, any aspect of life in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward. All residents welcome as ever.

Another Horsehay green field to succumb to development

I hear that the horse field currently dividing Horsehay bypass from Wellington Road is threatened with development.

Proposals are afoot to build 100 homes on this greenfield area with traffic discharging onto Wellington Road.

This will make current Wellington Road residents the "meat-in-a-sandwich" between this development and the Lightmoor Village Extension which already has outline planning permission.

Traffic on Wellington Road is currently a hot issue, as a rat-run from Lightmoor Village. This can only make the problem worse, with serious safety issues.

How much more of this do we have to stomach before the whole ward is under concrete?

If you share these concerns please keep abreast of potential planning applications and be ready to object.

September Advice Surgery

This month's Advice Surgery is on Saturday 20th, 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. as usual in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

Open to all residents of Horsehay and Lightmoor ward please drop in with your questions or issues in respect of any aspect of life in the ward. I can't promise to have all the answers, but if I don't know I'll find out.

I look forward to meeting you there.

August Advice Surgery

Advice surgery for this month will be held on Saturday 16th August from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and located as usual in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

Please do drop in if you have questions or concerns about life in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward (including Lawley as far down as Lawley cross) and I will do my best to help.

I look forward to seeing you there.

July Advice Surgery

This month's Advice Surgery is coming up next Saturday 19th July, 10.30 - 11.30 in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

If like many other residents, you have concerns about the excessive amount of inappropriate housing development brought forward by the Labour adminsitration on Telford & Wrekin Council, please do come along and share. Together we have a better chance of fighting this blight on our community.

Advice surgeries are open to all residents of Horsehay & Lightmoor ward. No appointment is required. I look forward to meeting you there.

June Advice Surgery

Advice Surgery for this month is Saturday 21st, 10.30 to 11.30 in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall. You don't need an appointment so please do come along with any questions or concerns about life in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward. I look forward to meeting you.

May Advice Surgery

The Advice Surgery for May will be on Saturday 17th from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

Please feel to drop in for a chat about any questions or concerns you may have about aspects of living in Horsehay and Lightmoor. No appointment required.

I look forward to meeting you there.

Super-fast Fibre Broadband - Progress!

There may yet be a brighter future ahead for residents currently left behind on the information super highway thanks to lack of exchange and cabinet fibre upgrades.

Funding for this work has been made available in the past by the Coalition Government through BD UK with an initial budget allocation of £700,000 for Telford & Wrekin. Inexplicably these funds were refused by the ruling Labour administration, which claimed it was unable to afford the match funding involved (that's the same administration which has just conjured up a pot of £13 million for various vanity projects in its favorite parts of the Borough). Telford & Wrekin was one of just four local authorities in the entire country to decline the opportunity to invest in this key business and community resource.

Government has recently announced a further fund of £1.42 million to be available for Telford & Wrekin through BD UK. I am most grateful to my Conservative colleague Cllr. Eric Carter who has managed to cajole the administration into constructing a bid for these funds. Match funding will be made possible through the Marches LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership), who have rightly recognised the importance to business of super-fast broadband in their strategic action plan.

All the elements are now at hand to solve the problems and there can be no excuses for non-delivery.

Advice Surgery for April

This month's Advice Surgery will be on Saturday 19th April from 10.30a.m. to 11.30a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

These sessions are for any resident of Horsehay and Lightmoor ward (inlcuding Lawley from St John's Church to the south side of Peppermill) to attend with questions or concerns about any aspect of local life.

You don't need an appointment. I look forward to meeting you on the day.

David Wilson Homes development at Johnston Pipes, Doseley

This scheme for 460 homes is now at the final planning application stage (reserved matters).

Despite the fact there is only one access/egress onto the wholly inadequate St. Luke's Road junction, the outline planning granted by #Telford #Labour administration allows the developer to build and sell 345 new homes without any provision for a second access/egress point.

Without modification this development is going to bring chaos and misery to existing and new residents alike. The length of St. Luke's Road, Frame Lane and Woodhouse Lane is already a traffic nightmare and it's set to get a whole lot worse.

My understanding is that there have so far been been no substantive discussions between the parties to open up a route onto Lightmoor Way.

This scheme will also wipe out forty-three direct jobs and countless more indirectly employed. A good days work for this "co-operative", "business-winning" #Labour council.

March Advice Surgery

Advice surgery for this month will be held on Saturday 15th, 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

Bring your questions, complaints or just comments on any aspect of living in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward and I will do my best to help.

You don't need an appointment, just turn up. See you there!

February Advice Surgery

The next Advice Surgery for Horsehay & Lightmoor ward will be on Saturday 15th February from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

All ward residents are welcome as ever with any questions, comments or complaints about life in Horsehay & Lightmoor. I do my best to help as ever.

January advice surgery

This month's advice surgery is set for Saturday 18th (third in the month as always) from 10.30 to 11.30, Horsehay Village Hall.

All ward residents welcome and no appointment required.