Residents of a housing development in Loughborough are celebrating after a Member of Parliament took up their fight for faster broadband, enabling them to ‘live their lives in the twenty first century’.
New residents of the Trinity Gardens development, located off Ling Road in Loughborough, discovered on moving into their homes that internet speeds of just 1.2 Megabytes per second (Mbps) were not uncommon. Homeowners reported that downloading music, streaming television and, importantly, running a small business was all but impossible.
Enquiries made by residents revealed that there were no plans to upgrade the development at which point a delegation contacted Nicky Morgan, their local MP.
Nicky takes up the story: “For most of us a fast and reliable internet connection has become indispensable, we rely on superfast broadband for business and leisure purposes.
“I was happy to liaise between residents, the developer – Morris Homes, and Openreach to find a way forward.
“Thanks to the forward-thinking flexibility of all involved, and no small amount of commitment from my office, it’s great news that a fibre cabinet has been installed and is now operational; meaning that residents will soon be able to access reliable video conferencing for work and streaming boxsets for pleasure.
“Whilst this is great news for the residents of Trinity Gardens I am conscious, having helped other residents in Barrow and Sileby, that this isn’t a one-off situation. My office and I will continue to work with local people to ensure that they can access the fast internet they need to live their lives.”
Gordon Whitfield, a homeowner who spearheaded the campaign, added “Residents had been struggling for many months to find a way forward to resolve our broadband dilemma, and then we asked Nicky to get involved.
“Nicky set up a meeting with Openreach and Morris Homes to explore the options and which facilitated an outcome which means we have access to the internet service we rely on.
“Now Trinity Gardens residents can live our lives in the twenty first century. Without Nicky’s support we would still be twiddling our thumbs dreaming of a solution whilst waiting for our favourite shows to buffer.”
