Agenda item

To receive a verbal presentation from the Economic Development Officer.

The Economic Development Officer provided the Group with a presentation in relation to a recent bid submission regarding rural Broadband provision.

An exciting opportunity existed to apply for funding to enter into a programme to provide a fibre network within Mid Devon. An expression of interest had been made to the relevant funding body as well as details of a discrete project which it was very much hoped if successful could be expanded. The current situation was that whilst some parts of the district received a reasonable service, within other areas, the service provided by commercially, or via the ‘Connecting Devon and Somerset’ programme provided limited coverage. However, demand was high from residents and businesses and the poor coverage was providing a barrier to growth.

Details regarding the proposed project were as follows:

A loop would be created linking the villages between the Link Road and the A377 as well as the Link Road between Crediton and Tiverton along the A3072. Creating a ring was a very resilient way for building a network to enable wider coverage. The principal villages on the loop between the A361 and A377 would be:

·         Withleigh (210m above sea level)

·         Templeton (260m)

·         Cruwys Morchard (218m)

·         Pennymoor (239m)

·         Puddington (206m)

·         Black Dog (197m)

·         Morchard Bishop (173m)

·         Lapford (150m)

Who would benefit?

·         As well as local residents, approximately 670 tourism businesses and 550 agricultural businesses.

·         House prices had the potential to increase by 5%.

Why pick this route?

·         The area was currently outside the remit of Connecting Devon and Somerset (the CDS programme).

·         The height of each location was relevant.

The process

·         Expressions of interest would be considered by late autumn with a full bid needing to be submitted by the beginning of 2018. The team were preparing as though the expression of interest would be successful and were busy considering the options that could be explored.

What happens now?

·         Need community buy-in

·         Establish route and submission sites

·         Identify and contact landowners

·         Create a business plan and evidence base

Other key activities

·         Explore commercial opportunities

·         Working with partner organisations

·         Costing the fibre roll-out

·         Look at alternative solutions if unsuccessful

Councillor support

·         Local knowledge and contacts would be vital.

·         Councillors could help in identifying existing infrastructure and could lobby for information from Connecting Devon and Somerset for direct project support.

The Group were asked to comment on the following discussion points:

·         Where this project was best placed to sit within the committee structure of the Council. Both the Economy and the Community Policy Development Groups had a keen interest in this area.

·         How should the Council engage with the community?

·         Was this the right approach or should the private sector lead on this?

Discussion followed with regard to:

·         A network ring of 12km which would enable additional beacons to be added would not be nearly as expensive as installing an optical fibre network. This would allow for greater coverage over the district but at this stage the team had been required to identify a smaller project that could be expanded upon.

·         Parish Councils would be an obvious useful vehicle for local intelligence.

·         There would be time to consider a whole range of options once the bid was successful.

·         The business plan to address such matters as financial forecasting, likely on-costs, was the crucial next stage.

·         There was a unanimous agreement that this was a project that the Council should pursue and quickly. The project area could be expanded in time but needed to start somewhere. It was very timely given that this had been a very significant problem for the district for a considerable amount of time.

·         Further work was needed by the Cabinet Member and officers before deciding which committee to align this project to.

Note: A proposal to establish a working group was not supported at this stage.