Residents slam plague of internet broadband poles
RESIDENTS in one Rossendale community are furious over the recent installation of broadband poles in town.
Abi Cadogan lives on Horncliffe Close and says a number of broadband installations have cropped up in her area.
Having lived in London, she says the family moved back to Rossendale for the scenic views – which have now been ruined by the less than scenic poles. Speaking to the Free Press, Abi said: “That view was why we moved to Rossendale and they’ve just taken it. I mean it’s absolutely vast and I can’t even believe they don’t need planning permission.
“The council have been chatting to me and they can’t do anything about it. It’s just an absolute freefor-all.”
Living in a tight-knit community, Abi says her neighbours had not been informed, nor had they been asked about the installation of the pole. She says a lot of her elderly neighbours have been upset by the “horrendous 15ft pole”.
Abi also recalls a neighbour having their planning permission for a twostorey house denied because the proposed development would “obscure our view”. She adds: “Now there’s an enormous post outside.
“What’s the logic? I can’t really fathom how that’s OK. That house would have taken up less space and taken up less of the view than this huge pole with cables attached. It’s frustrating.”
The company behind the poles, brsk are a high speed fibre broadband provider for the UK. Whilst they argue the installation of the poles is to provide full fibre network for the areas they’re placed in, residents up and down the country have called for them to be removed.
“My kids, honestly, we’ve had so many tears, everybody’s really upset,” Abi said. “Genuinely it feels like they’ve stolen a bit of the sky. We used to sit and just gaze out of the window and you could see the whole hill. You could see the halo and you could see the whole profile of the landscape. Now you
can’t because there’s this huge thing in the way.”
Another concern of Abi’s is the effect of the pole on house prices in the future. She explained: “One of the major selling factors was the view, which is presumably going to affect my house prices. Other people will want my view, but not with a huge pole outside of it.”
A spokesperson for brsk said: “As one of the UK’s fastest-growing full fibre broadband providers, brsk is fully committed to the Government’s mandate to deliver gigabitbroadband services nationwide by 2030. This mandate can only be achieved by upgrading current broadband infrastructure to full fibre – the fastest and most reliable type of broadband available.
“Currently, full fibre broadband is only available to around 60%* of homes in the country, with residents having been historically misled into believing that the option they already have is the most advanced – but not all options advertised as fibre are full fibre. These
upgrades are therefore important to serve current and future generations, future-proofing the services for all.
“Our network is built within and on the existing telecommunications infrastructure under Code Powers issued by OFCOM, using the Openreach PIA (Physical Infrastructure Access) Product. However, sometimes the existing infrastructure is insufficient for us to serve some premises, and on these occasions, we need to upgrade the infrastructure to provide services to all residents.
“The planting of poles where necessary is widely used within the industry, and generally accepted as the most effective, and most environmentallyfriendly option, to upgrade infrastructure. A large amount of infrastructure could already exist underground, which leaves no space for any new infrastructure.
“Not only can opening trenches also be extremely disruptive, this could create significant risk to the other services in the ground, such as water and electricity, leaving residents without these while they are being repaired. The poles are placed in locations which cause the least disruption to residents, and any residents who may be impacted are directly communicated with through our engagement process.
“Dedicated pole engagements to specific homes likely to be connected close to a telegraph pole location, were carried out in early March this year, as well as communication sent to local councillors.
“This was then followed up with letters to all residents in early April notifying them of our build process and intention to start works.
“Having full fibre broadband in an area is proven to drive up the value of homes, a reference to which can be found here. We’re proud to be making Rossendale one of the best digitally connected areas in the country ahead of the national deadline, and for creating the opportunity for residents to take up world class broadband now, while many parts of the country patiently wait their turn.”
‘Genuinely it feels like they’ve stolen a bit of the sky. We used to sit and just gaze out of the window and you could see the whole hill’