David joined over 75 local residents, as well as Councillor Lesley Smetham and Julian Cobley, Head of Technical Strategy and Planning at Cheshire East Council, for a packed meeting at The Gawsworth Methodist Community Hall to consider how the village can get connected to superfast broadband.
The meeting was organised by Barbara Wilson and Alex Price, the driving forces behind Better Broadband for Gawsworth. It is clear that the need to upgrade to a better broadband service is an important issue for local people, and without it they will be unable to enjoy all that the internet has to offer for business and personal use.
Attendees considered the solutions available to them to bring better broadband to Gawsworth, with Julian Cobley providing an update on the work Cheshire East Council is doing to help improve broadband access throughout the area.
The aim of the campaign is to ensure residents and local businesses will have improved access to streaming and teleconferencing – services that they currently find difficult to access. It is hoped that superfast broadband will help local people to work from home and also that local businesses will be better able to grow as they will have access to fast and reliable broadband.
Better Broadband for Gawsworth organiser Alex Price said, ““Today, broadband is no longer a luxury but the fourth utility. Fast and reliable connectivity is essential to meet the needs of modern living. The residents of Gawsworth are eager to get on-line faster and not to be left behind in a communication backwater. Villagers complain that the poor and worsening speeds make it difficult to effectively run their village-based businesses, work from home, study, keep in-touch with families abroad, access new services such as the iPlayer, and much more. We are not a remote community; the optic fibre travels through the village and the nearest connection at the Rising Sun is only 1 mile from our community shop! We are ready to work with the service providers to find a solution that will allow us to get connected.”
David said, “I am working closely with BT to find solutions available to Gawsworth and other rural communities to improve access to superfast broadband. I recognise how important this issue is and the real improvements a better broadband service will make to all aspects of the lives of local residents. I have made contact with BT again following the meeting to arrange another meeting with local residents in the weeks ahead to review solutions.