Kettlewell school to be hub for internet boost (From Craven Herald)

Kettlewell school to be hub for internet boost

1:30pm Saturday 18th February 2012 in News

Kettlewell Primary School is set to benefit from faster internet access as high-speed broadband comes to Upper Wharfedale.

Residents and businesses in Littondale will also feel the benefit from the Connecting North Yorkshire (CNY) initiative.

CNY is to install a fibre-optic connection at Kettlewell School, which will mean anyone signing up to the scheme can access high-speed broadband.

And it has been made possible through a Performance Reward Grant received by North Yorkshire County Council and matched funding from the community and the scheme’s internet service provider, LN Communications.

CNY chairman County Coun Carl Les said: “We are committed to developing community-based schemes in areas where high-speed broadband is not commercially viable in the open market – the so-called ‘broadband not-spots’.

“The core of the scheme is confirmed to go ahead,” he said. “However, we still need more people to sign up in the Littondale communities including Hawkswick, Foxup, Arncliffe, Litton, and Halton Gill.”

The improvements come after a year-long campaign by residents Chris Beazley and David Hood, who said it would mean internet access speeds of up to 20Mb/s.

It will also mean Kettlewell Primary School, as wireless hub, benefiting from faster internet access.

MP Julian Smith, who has campaigned for improved internet access, said: “I pay tribute to the community leaders and hard work from many that has brought this project forward. It will be a great boost to business and communities in one of the most rural parts of my constituency.”

To register an interest in the scheme, or to find out more, go to fastuwdale.net.

There will also be an information meeting held by the CNY team and supported by LN Communications at Kilnsey Village Hall on Wednesday, March 14 at 5.30pm.