Dartmoor National Park & Super Fast Broadband

Dartmoor National Park Parishes and residents a letter from the Park about the Super Fast Broadband campaign.

Your ref:

Please Quote:JR/25/10/

Direct Line:1024

19 June 2012

Dear Parish Clerk

Connecting Dartmoor! - Getting Superfast Broadband for Dartmoor

Poor internet connectivity is increasingly being recognised as a real problem in rural areas

where there is limited or no broadband access. Many parts of Dartmoor are struggling

with download speeds of less than 2mb per second, leaving many residents and

businesses frustrated and at considerable disadvantage to other more connected areas.

With dependence on the internet growing both for businesses and domestic users, this

disparity can only increase and if not addressed will adversely affect both our economy

and our quality of life.

Dartmoor National Park Authority is working with Devon County Council on a bid for

Dartmoor to the Rural Community Broadband Fund, administered by Defra. The Fund is

to enable remote ‘hard to reach’ communities to access super-fast broadband (above

24mb per second). However, the fund is limited and it is not realistic to expect to resolve

the problem across the whole of Dartmoor at this stage. It is also possible that the open

market by the ‘Connecting Devon and Somerset’ scheme may deliver superfast broadband

to some larger settlements or those on the fringes of Dartmoor. With this in mind we have

undertaken analysis of the current information available and identified several areas that

would appear to be likely to be able to best benefit from the Rural Community Broadband

Fund. These areas are based around the telephone exchanges of Moretonhampstead

and Chagford (phase 1) and Manaton, Haytor Vale and Poundsgate (phase 2).

The deadline for submission of the initial ‘Expression of Interest’ is the 6th July. To support

the bid we need to show strong evidence of community need and demand for a better

broadband service. The support of the parish council, community organisations, local

businesses and services will be vital to the success of the bid.

I am writing to ask you for a letter of support for the bid. A letter that illustrates the issues

around the current poor internet provision, highlights the communities’ need and desire for

a better service and your organisations willingness to engage with and support the

‘Connecting Dartmoor’ project will be instrumental in securing this additional funding for

Dartmoor and for your community.

It would also be very helpful if you could encourage as many residents and businesses to

register their interest by completing a simple survey from the property that takes only a few

minutes. The registration includes a simple speed checker and this information will used

to help develop the scheme. There is a link to the survey on the front page of our website

at www.dartmoor.gov.uk . Or, if you don’t yet have access to the internet from your

property, you can call the hotline number 0844 4636887 (calls cost 5p min from BT

landline) or contact Jo Rumble, Communities Officer on 01626 830124.

I look forward to hearing from you and if you have any questions or wish to discuss the

project further then please do contact me.

Best wishes

Yours sincerely

Jo Rumble

Jo Rumble

Communities Officer

Email: jrumble@dartmoor.gov.uk