Please find attached a memo from Greysouthen Parish Council regarding Wind Turbines

Turbines

Please find a link to the latest update from the Connecting Cumbria Website

http://www.connectingcumbria.org/newphaseofprocurementonconnectingcumbria.asp

The County Council has set up a new Frequently Asked Questions Page.  Follow the link:

http://www.connectingcumbria.org.uk/FAQs.asp

Autumn Newsletter

Summer may be over, but the roll-out of superfast broadband in Cumbria is hotting up. BDUK has confirmed £17.1m in funding for the County Council’s Accessible Cumbria project and the shortlist of potential suppliers has been whittled down to three. Meanwhile, communities across the county have been mobilising. An extraordinary day at the Stoneybeck Inn in July saw the launch of four community broadand pilots that will shape the roll-out throughout the rest of the UK…

Funding details announced for UK broadband upgrade

Cumbria is to receive one of the largest shares of the £363m set aside to improve broadband across the UK. £17m has been earmarked to support Cumbria County Council’s ‘Accessible Cumbria’ project, including  the community pilots (see ‘Industry Day at Stoneybeck’, above). Congratulations and good luck to Cllr Liz Mallinson and officer Jim Savege , who are responsible for making sure the best broadband is delivered.

At the end of August the list of suppliers for the county-wide upgrade (that is, not the community pilots) was whittled down to three: BT Global Services, Cable and Wireless, and Fujitsu. The winner of the bid will be announced around December.

While the specified target for broadband provision is 2 megabits per second, CCC state that in most cases, connection speeds will be significantly better. You can read more on the council’s website.

http://www.fibrebroadband.co.uk/news/final-bidders-for-cumbria-broadband-project-announced-800711963/

Community Broadband groups begin negotiations with major telcos

On 8^th July, telecoms companies, BDUK, Cumbria County Council, and community groups from around East Cumbria gathered at the Stoneybeck Inn at Plumpton to begin negotiations for four community broadband pilots. The four groups making their pitch were the Leith-Lyvennet Broadband Group, The Northern Fells Broadband Group, Fibre garDen(Garsdale and Dentdale) and Great Asby Broadband.

Libby Bateman (ECCBF), Jim Savege (CCC) and Rory Stewart MP led the morning sessiosn. After, each group made a presentation and then went behind closed doors with the telcos to thrash out deals. BDUK will use these pilots to determine the role which communities throughout the UK will play in the roll-out of superfast broadband.

Further announcements are expected this month, so watch this space…

Nominate your Digital Heroes!

TalkTalk are running a competition to find 12 digital heroes from across the UK: people who are using the internet to solve a social problem or improve people’s lives. You can nominate anyone you like – even yourself.  The winner gets £5,000 and free broadband for a year, so if there’s anyone who’s made, or is making, a real impact in your community, go to http://www.talktalk.co.uk/digitalheroes/enter.html and nominate them! It can be anything from running a community website to being involved in the broadband effort or helping people get online for the first time.

NextGenUs raise a mast at Sleagill

Congratulations to Guy, Craig, and the rest of the NextGenUs team, who have installed a wireless mast which could provide backhaul for nodes at Murton, Blencarn, Dufton, Milburn, Great Salkeld and Cliburn. The node is not yet active, but you can follow progress on the NextGenUs blog.

BBC reveals crowdsourced mobile coverage data

A survey by the BBC has provided some of the most accurate reporting of mobile coverage yet to have been made in the UK. While the mobile operators claimed they managed to cover 90% of the country with a 3G signal, the research suggests 75% might be closer to the mark, with notspots clustered, unsurprisingly, in rural areas.

The survey collected data from the smartphones of 44,600 participants for a total of 1.7 million hours. While it wasn’t technically a proper scientific test, the results make interesting reading for anyone curious about just how huge the digital divide is in some areas. You can see the map at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14582499.

David Blaylock has become the Hub Coordinator for our area of Allerdale. Hub Coordinators are the link between the Parish Broadband Champions and the County Coucil, the body in charge of implementing the Access Cumbria project.  Hub Coordinators cover several parishes, I will let you known which ones he covers when it has been decided. So far the only one confirmed is Dean parish but it is expexted that several parishes in the Marron valley and the Cocker valley will be included.  I will give a list of Greysouthen Broadband Champions as soon as I can confirm who has volunteered.  An update on where the project has got to will follow soon.

Greysouthen Parish Council would like to thank David Blaylock for volunteering to become Broadband Champion for Greysouthen.  We look forward to supporting David in his challenging role.  If you want to contact David you can do so through this site.  We would also appreciate any further help, so if you are interested, please make a post on this site.

For an update on the current prgress from CALC please follow the link

http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/broadband/update.asp

This website has been set up to help support the Cumbrian Broadband Campaign, below is their mission policy:

Isolation is the greatest threat to the sustainability of Cumbria’s rural communities. Rapid communication is vital to our society, to government services, and to our economy.

We, the communities of rural Cumbria, demand superfast broadband and universal mobile broadband coverage by 2012.

In return we will work to bring everyone in our parish online and, where necessary, contribute our own energy and time to help deliver superfast broadband.

Welcome to the Greysouthen Parish Broadband Campaign.

We are currently in the process of setting up the site, so please bear with us and check back when you can.

If you are interested in becoming the Champion for the Broadband Campaign in Greysouthen, please let us know.  We would welcome any support you could give us, especially if you have any IT skills or website management experience.