Feedback to the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) consultation indicates that low and unreliable broadband speed is a common problem in Great Gransden. Significant improvements could be achieved with the implementation of full fibre broadband and so the Steering Group for the Great Gransden NDP is examining the setting up of a Community Fibre Partnership with the aim to offer everyone in the village the opportunity to access to SuperFast Fibre broadband in their home or business.

What is a Community Fibre Partnership?

Full fibre broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available, and the government is committed to a vision of a full fibre Britain. As part of this commitment in March 2018, they announced a £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Additionally, from May this year, premises in harder-to-reach places in the UK are eligible for extra funding under the Rural Communities scheme.

Community Fibre Partnerships are when two or more residents and/or Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) get together to combine Broadband Vouchers towards the shared cost of installation. Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps can access vouchers worth up to £3,500 for each SME and up to £1,500 per residential premise; for those with 30Mbs already, the figures reduce to £1,500 for a business, and £500 for a home.

Great Gransden NDP Steering Group has registered for a Community Fibre Partnership to extend the potential benefit across all residents in the village. The more homes and business we involve in the Partnership, the more can be contributed to the installation cost to each premise from the Voucher Scheme.

The first step is for us to provide Openreach with a list of addresses that would like to be included in the scheme. If you would like to be involved, the information we need from you to register your interest is: Name, Postcode, Address, Landline Number, and whether you are an SME or residential property.

There is no financial obligation or commitment at this stage.

How are Openreach involved?

Openreach work with local communities to build a customised fibre solution to bring fibre broadband to homes and businesses, and this would determine the expected achievable download speeds. They put a joint funding arrangement in place, which means they contribute some of the costs and our Community Fibre Partnership funds the rest.

They will build the most affordable solution to meet our need and will advise on other grants we might be able to access from local authorities or the Government.

There is no requirement for residents to switch broadband provider.

What would be the costs?

Once we have registered the interest of everyone who would like to be involved, Openreach will calculate the costs involved in getting better broadband to these premises, and assist with the application for vouchers. The cost to each resident and business can only be confirmed after this stage is completed and it would be split across all participants.

Next steps

If you would like to join the Partnership, or have any questions, please email your details (see above) to gg-fibre@gransdens.org and state whether you would like to be kept informed on progress. Please reply before March 31st. Your details will be kept only in relation to this initiative.

Our September 2019 meeting is in the Reading rooms on the 4th, at 7pm. See below for the agenda and the draft minutes of the July meeting. (Click on the file name to view the document online, or on the download icon at the end of the line to download the file for offline viewing, or printing.)

Our July 2019 meeting is in the Reading rooms on the 16th, at 7pm. See below for the agenda and the draft minutes of the May meeting. (Click on the file name to view the document online, or on the download icon at the end of the line to download the file for offline viewing, or printing.)

Our June meeting is in the Reading rooms on June 12th, at 7pm. See below for the agenda and the draft minutes of the May meeting. (Click on the file name to view the document online, or on the download icon at the end of the line to download the file for offline viewing, or printing.)

The vision statement encapsulates the views of the NDP steering group as to the principles that should be encapsulated in the NDP. It is still being refined, but he draft as of April 2019 can be downloaded by clicking this link.

The steering group for the Great Gransden Neighbourhood Development Plan are holding a public consultation on Friday 18th January 2019. It will be held in the School Hall, from 5pm – 8pm.
All are welcome.

This is scheduled for 7:30 on Monday the 10th of December; all are welcome to attend. There will be an open forum at the start of the meeting where members of the public can present their views.