Almost seventy households in Peasedown St John’s south western area are currently excluded from BT’s super fast broadband roll-out, despite being within yards of two cabinet boxes. Other homes, less than fifteen minutes’ walk away, do receive super fast broadband speeds.
Maps obtained by B&NES Councillors, Karen Walker and Sarah Bevan (Independent, Peasedown St John), indicate that despite BT’s plans to improve coverage during phase two of its improvement plans, Home Farm Close, Wellow Mead and some homes in Wellow Lane are in so-called ‘white areas’, where there are no plans for new coverage.
Cllr Karen Walker said: “I first came across the lack of super fast broadband speeds in our area last year, when I attended a Somer Valley Forum meeting.
“I’m shocked that Peasedown St John residents are not treated as equally as they should be, especially those who work from home and who are setting up
businesses without access to the same speeds as their neighbours.”
The Councillors are currently drafting a complaint to BT in co-operation with Bath and North East Somerset’s Business Development officers, calling for urgent attention to this omission for local residents, many of whom live just feet away from neighbours who do receive high broadband speeds.
Cllr Sarah Bevan added: “When Home Farm Close residents recently contacted us about their lack of high speed broadband, we took action to find out why.
Now that our research has shown that, possibly through an administrative error, certain postcodes have been excluded in BT’s promised coverage, we know it’s just a simple connection problem to existing infrastructure. BT should act straight away to rectify this.”
The Ward Councillors recently met with B&NES staff and residents in Home Farm Close to discuss the lack of broadband coverage. They are hoping that through lobbying, BT will make the necessary improvements as soon as possible.