Many of our residents in Project A will have received the 31st December email from Openreach saying that the initial target of 100% has been reached. After the pledges were verified by Openreach, this percentage dropped a little, as some of the pledges were doubles and the others need closer verification. If you have not yet pledged your voucher you can do so here - https://www.openreach.com/connect-my-community
However Openreach have now informed me that as soon as the additional funding for the top-ups has been approved by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, both schemes A & B should hit 100% so the projects can move forward.
This has been achieved with the enthusiastic support of our community encouraging their neighbours and friends to battle the ambiguities of online form filling to pledge their voucher. It has been an amazing community buy-in throughout the parish especially in Curtisden Green and Kilndown, who already had started their individual projects and have been most been effected by Callflow withdrawing their radio internet service. This was due to their contractors being unable to guarantee continued service due to the now ageing equipment.
The Parish Council has provided great support to me to oversee and expand this exciting development throughout Goudhurst and we have publicised it in the Parish magazine and with emails, posters and postcards.
Greg Clark MP has given us his full support and has asked me to keep him up to date and I have asked him to press our case with Oliver Dowden, secretary of State for the DCMS which he has confirmed to me he is happy to do. KCC and Openreach have also been incredibly helpful in this one of their largest most difficult projects.
So a much deserved thank you and well done to the whole community, who together have enabled the project to get this far. I know how frustrating this process has been for all of us and hope to provide some good news within the next week.