Local MP, David Rutley, has continued his push for rural communities to have access to faster broadband speeds, following a well attended public meeting with Mottram St Andrew Parish Council, Connecting Cheshire and BT, at the Chapel in the village.
A number of concerns were raised by local residents, in relation to the poor levels of broadband speeds available in the community at present following the news that Mottram St. Andrew will not be part of the wider rollout of superfast Broadband planned before the end of 2017. David and Cllr Paul Findlow, local Cheshire East Councillor, gave their support to finding ways for local residents to access improved broadband speeds despite this news. Following a lengthy question and answer session, several options were discussed that could make this possible.
The plans announced by Connecting Cheshire will see the rollout of superfast broadband increase coverage from 95% of Cheshire to 99%, by the end of 2017. Information relating to which communities will benefit from this next phase of the scheme is expected to be announced in the autumn.
Following the meeting, David said, “It is essential for all our local and rural communities to have communications technology to match our often fast paced society. It was good attend this constructive meeting, and I shall be contacting Ministers to press for further action to support our most isolated rural communities. I will also be organising a further meeting with Connecting Cheshire, BT and other affected rural communities in the autumn to develop workable options that will help get superfast broadband to our rural communities.”