Latest Update

Many thanks to all those who responded to the recent survey.

The response to the broadband survey was a little disappointing with only around 15% of the parish responding. Many of you who did respond rated your broadband average or poor, with a few rating it very poor. It was also surprising to see just how may people work from home or run as business from home, with almost 50% or respondents in this category.

Unfortunately, the team felt that this level of interest was just not sufficient that an application for a grant from Kent County Council was justified at this stage.

The team will look to do some more work to promote the benefits of high speed broadband, and discussed the possibility of having a stand and demonstration at the village fete. If there is sufficient interest, the team will plan on submitting a grant application next year.

The survey revealed that Rowling is particularly poorly served by ADSL broadband (phoneline broadband). However, Rowling does appear to be well served by wireless broadband from Vfast. More details are available on the solutions page.

Introduction and background

On Wednesday 23rd February 2011, a meeting was help in the village hall to talk about the possibilities for high-speed broadband in the parish. Jon Aldington from Goodnestone led the discussion, and was supported by Lyndon Gurr from Kent County Council, who described the support that KCC gives to broadband schemes across the county, and discussed the grant funding that KCC make available.

It was clear at the meeting that broadband speeds vary considerably across the parish. In general, Chillenden is better served with some properties getting 2Mbps or above. Parts of Goodnestone, and particularly Rowling, seem to struggle with very slow or almost non-existent broadband.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that BT or any other commercial provider would make the investment needed to provide high speed connectivity to Goodnestone parish, as the investment required would simply not be recovered in a reasonable time. However, there have been a number of very successful community schemes across Kent and across the UK. These schemes were discussed in some detail - see this page for more information.

For the parish of Goodnestone, it is possible that any of the technologies used elsewhere might be successful. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and some are more costly than others.

Grant funding may be available from KCC, and potentially from other sources.

It was agreed that a small team would look in more detail at the options and at ways to move forward with a project for the parish.

The team will meet during early March, and updates will be provided on this page.

If you have questions or require more information, please contact Jon on 841440 or using this contact form.

Other links of interest