Filey included in £15m project for ‘fast’ broadband

Filey is set to be included in a £15 million project to provide high-speed broadband to public sector sites in the county.

The Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) project is the result of a successful bid by North Yorkshire County Council and NYnet to the Government’s Local Full Fibre Networks Challenge Fund.

The project, which got underway in October, was originally planned to connect some 340 public buildings in 16 towns in the county to a gigabit fibre network.

Filey had not been identified as one of these towns, but progress with the project has been such that it has now been included.

Six sites will be connected up, making a total of 60 across the Scarborough and Filey area. These include the fire station, library and Filey surgery.

The contractor for the project is Leeds-based SCD Group.

The fibre network is being installed using narrow trenches mainly under footpaths and verges, with some work on the public highway.

More than 7km of fibre has already been laid in Filey.

County Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for Access, said: “This is very good news for Filey and we are very pleased that we have made such good progress with the project to be able to add the town to the initial list of communities in the scheme. The LFFN programme brings about a remarkable upgrade in the county’s digital infrastructure, which will result in major economic benefits and a future-proofed network.”