Dear Colleagues I am writing to you to seek your help in delivering improved broadband services in the area. The Council is developing a Local Broadband Plan to ensure that our residents benefit from superfast broadband as part of the Government's aim for the UK to have the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015. Superfast broadband is the next generation of broadband with connection speeds of greater than 25 megabits per second (mbps). With superfast broadband, our residents and businesses will have improved access to services and opportunities and  will ensure that Central Bedfordshire remains competitive as a location for business investment. The Council is currently working with partners to prepare the plan, including Parish Councils, local businesses and education providers (through the Central Bedfordshire broadband Partnership)  The Plan will  help extend coverage of superfast broadband to areas of Central Bedfordshire which will not be served by  the market. In addition to supporting superfast broadband, we are seeking to ensure that all residents have access to a minimum speed of 2mbps. A key part of our efforts is to improve the market's understanding of the demand for superfast broadband services, As such, we have also set up a survey to find out what residents and businesses want from their internet capacity. The results of this will further inform the Plan, support state aid requirements and help demonstrate to the market the availability of services locally. the Survey is available online at www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/broadband and we will shortly be providing questionnaires in Libraries. We are seeking to promote the survey as this will form a key part of demonstrating the need for investment in the area.  We have put out a press release and the survey will be promoted through News Central. We are also promoting the survey to existing broadband infrastructure providers (i.e. Virgin and BT). We are working on promoting the survey further and I would appreciate any help you can offer in terms of promoting the survey to local residents and businesses. For more information on superfast broadband and to access the survey please visit www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/broadband or contact Cllr Richard Wenham who is championing broadband for the Council or myself if you have any queries or if I can be of any assistance. Your sincerely James Cushing Economic Policy Manager Economic Growth Regeneration and Skills Hockliffe.net Hockliffe Notices Use the ‘Contact’ page to send any notices that you wish to share with the village of Hockliffe NOTICE 1: