MP urges people to back B4RN broadband scheme for Storth

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has today called on local residents in Storth to look at a proposal by Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) to move out from their base in Lancashire and bring superfast broadband to the Cumbrian village of Storth.

B4RN is a "not for profit" Community Benefit Society. It has been established by people living in Bowland and theLuneValley, with the aim of installing a fibre optic superfast broadband network. It will be available to every property in our area; with no exclusions because a property is too far away or too difficult to reach.

B4RN plan to connect the villages of Yealand Conyers, Yealand Redmayne and Silverdale, scheduled for the later phases of the project and will consider coming over the border intoCumbriaif there is sufficient demand and the community is prepared to fund the project through share purchase and help to install the fibre cables. Tim is asking local residents if they are interested in the scheme. If enough interest is recorded the service could 'come online' within the next 2 years.

B4RN are hoping to connect around 1,400 commercial and residential properties under Phase 1 of the project in northLancashire. Work on the network got underway at the end of March.

The network offers fibre to every home providing 1000 megabits (1 gigabits) futureproof connection for £30 a month on a not for profit basis. They also offer the opportunity of shares in the organisation. The Shares are of two types, a standard share which anyone can subscribe to and a special share which is reserved for purchase by members of the community who are doing work to build the network. For information on B4RN please visit their website: www.B4RN.org.uk

If people are interested they are asked to fill out an expression of interest form which can be found here: www.storth.com/Broadband2.htm. Currently 17 people have declared an interest in the scheme.

Tim said: "B4RN are a fantastic community organisation who really are leading the field in super fast broadband. This kind of project is exactly what we need to connect up our county. If local residents want to join the scheme please do declare an interest. The more people that join the more likely it is to happen!"