TRELLECH residents could soon be able to experience super fast broadband, despite the company responsible being “held to ransom” by a local landowner.

While some residents continue to experience delays with the broadband rollout, other residents of Trellech could experience superfast broadband as soon as next month after they were visited by representatives of Superfast Cymru on Monday (15th February).

Members of the public and Trellech United Community Council were addressed by Martin Jones and Susan Ward in a presentation to receive updates and address concerns about the broadband rollout.

A number of the hold-ups have been caused by issues with permission, which has meant that a number of the cabinets in the area are either without power or a fibre connection.

Mr Jones explained that Superfast Cymru need property owners to sign a ‘wayleave’ before any work can be done, but the rollout has been held up after some property owners have failed to respond or, in one case, held the company “to ransom”.

Any property owner whose land falls under the plans receives a payment of £750, but the landowner in question demanded significantly more, leaving Superfast Cymru with no option other than find an alternative route.

It was suggested that the Community Council could work with Superfast Cymru, with the intention of contacting the landowners who are holding up the rollout.

Residents of the area have previously been left disappointed, with Independent County Councillor for Trellech United Debby Blakeborough suggesting that Monmouthshire had been “put to the back of the line in the rollout”.

“I was disappointed when Monmouthshire was put to the back of the line in the rollout” she said. “I met with Ann Beynon the then BT Director for Wales and asked her what criteria was used to decide the order of the 22 authorities to be connected. She said that it was not her decision and that commercially Monmouthshire should have sat with Swansea and Cardiff as the first three.

“In 2012 it was announced that the Welsh Government was investing tax payers money in a partnership with BT to deliver superfast broadband to 96 per cent of homes and businesses in Wales by the end of 2015. It’s now 2016 and we are still waiting.

“Monmouthshire had small businesses and self employed working from home waiting to take up the increased broadband width. Monmouthshire was also in competition with the Fastershire programme over the border in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. They have been up and running for over a year now while comparable  areas such as Monmouthshire are still lagging in the slow lane.

“Areas of Trellech United have been on a promise for the past year now, home working and businesses have suffered as a result. Many residents are forced to travel to their offices in Cardiff and Bristol to access the internet rather than work from home.”

Superfast Cymru suggest that the first cabinets in the Trellech area should go live some time in March.

Each cabinet, which covers approximately 400 properties in the area, will provide increased broadband speeds for residents in a three kilometre radius. Those at the presentation also heard that Superfast Cymru are also offering a number of premises fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband which will mean that properties in more isolated areas can still receive high-speed broadband.