Broadband – Any Broadband – for Walton Grange!

Walton Grange needs broadband – that was the message from residents recently as you told us about speeds of only 0.5mbps on supposedly 10MB connections.

“The problem is that Walton Grange is about as far as you can get in MK from the local telephone exchange – and that means slow broadband.” said Cllr Jenni Ferrans.  A number of solutions have been tried over the years, but the best is to get fibre-optic cables laid.  That’s less dependent on distance, so even low speed connections would work far faster, and superfast connections would be available.

However, BT insists that it’s not economic to connect Walton Grange – despite connections to neighbouring estates only 100m away!

“BT have made their position clear.  We are campaigning now to get Walton Grange included on the Council’s government-funded programme to connect up the uneconomic areas“, says Jenni.  “Please email the Council on [email protected]  if you want faster broadband.”

The Council will make the decision about which areas to go for in August or September.

New Development in Walton Manor

Cllrs Subhan Shafiq and Jenni Ferrans in Walton Manor - the field next to Walton Grange now scheduled for development

Cllrs Subhan Shafiq and Jenni Ferrans in Walton Manor – the field next to Walton Grange now scheduled for development

Early plans are being developed for high tech companies in a special science park opposite the OU, with access from the H9 Groveway.

As part of this development there may be some housing at the southern side, bordering Simpson Road and next to Walton Grange.   Your local Lib Dem Focus team will keep you posted and ensure you are able to take part at the consultation stage.

The Lib Dem team has met with MK Council and asked if a play area can be built into the scheme so that children from Walton Grange and Walton Park have somewhere to play – something that is badly missing at present!