Business Broadband Roundtable at the De La Warr Pavilion Friday 16 December from 10-11.30am

Last week there was a meeting of the East Sussex Town and Parish Council Rural Broadband Conference.

At the meeting it was made clear that it is very important for town and parish councils to engage with their local businesses and communities in order to collect the evidence needed by East Sussex County Council to develop the Local Broadband Plan and access the funding for implementation of superfast broadband across the county.

Gregory Barker MP (Bexhill & Battle) is hosting a Business Broadband Roundtable for businesses and organisations within his constituency at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Friday 16 December from 10-11.30am. This is an ideal opportunity for local organisations, especially those rurally based, to find out more about the Local Broadband Plan and how they can get involved in building a strong case for their area. There will be plenty of time for open discussion and the guest speaker is Cllr Peter Jones, Leader of East Sussex County Council.

If you think this might be a useful event for the organisations you support please would you circulate the details to your contacts. If they would like to attend please could they contact me on 01424 734910 or email frances.mckenna@parliament.uk to book a place.

Mr Barker is considering holding a further business broadband roundtable aimed at more rural businesses in the new year at a different venue in the constituency. It would be helpful if you could let me know whether you think there might sufficient local interest for this.

If you think an event of this nature should be held in Wealden, to give Wealden businesses an opportunity to learn about ESCC's Local Broadband Plan please email regeneration@wealden.gov.uk with your comments.