Airband has been accused of rolling out new ultrafast broadband “as cheaply and as quickly as possible” and cluttering up the streets with huge poles in Totnes and Dartington.

Bridgetown residents have described the infrastructure around the estate an eyesore, and Cllr Jacqi Hodgson, county councillor for Totnes and Dartington, says Airband’s roll out is “compromising highway safety, heritage areas and upsetting a lot of people.”

Telegraph poles recently sprouted up in several streets across Bridgetown as part of Airband’s next generation FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) service.

But their sudden appearance prompted complaints from some of the nearby households who were upset they were not consulted before the “unsightly” tall poles and cabling were installed on their doorsteps.

One of the poles at Meadow Close, Bridgetown
One of the poles at Meadow Close, Bridgetown (contributed)

The poles are covered by permitted development rights, which means that no planning permission is required before installation.

But following a meeting with district and county council officers in February, the company agreed to give written notification 28 days in advance of installing any more new poles.

At this meeting, councillors also learned that Airband could use existing broadband poles as well as underground connections where possible.

Cllr Hodgson, who attended the meeting, argues the poles are a cost-saving measure – being cheaper than underground connections.

She said: “It is a clear case of delivering this fibre broadband as cheaply and as quickly as possible and in doing so Airband are upsetting residents, cluttering up the rural highways and pavements with huge new poles, and failing to comply with their own stated obligation to minimise this by sharing other infrastructure and using ducting.

“In this instance, government led infrastructure planning permission does not work as it needs to be locally informed and permitted.

“This roll out is compromising highway safety, heritage areas and upsetting a lot of people - all so very needlessly - and it flies in the face of good planning.

“There are a number of serious unanswered questions about this very unsavoury situation.”

Cllr Hodgson added: “It is important that we get the good broadband services we need for rural businesses and communities to thrive in this the digital age, but we also need good delivery that doesn’t spoil the area.”

Resident Sue Mistlebrook with a new pole on the corner of Furze Road and Rush Way, Bridgetown
Resident Sue Mistlebrook with a new pole on the corner of Furze Road and Rush Way, Bridgetown (contributed)

Dartington Parish Council chairwoman, Cllr Trudy Turrell, says many Dartington residents also have “deep concerns” about the impact of the huge poles in their village.

Cllr Turrell said: “Residents have the right to be listened to, yet nobody seems to be listening, and yet again, lovely Dartington is being unnecessarily spoilt by new development.

“There is a much better way to install this fibre broadband without ruining the area, Airband might just need to spend a bit more money doing it.”

In response to the complaints, Airband was due to have held a virtual meeting with residents yesterday (Wednesday March 30).

Andrew Roberts, Airband key account manager, said the company had no comment to make at this time other than “this is permitted development” and the digital network giant did “explore all options before adding poles.”

He said he felt the public meeting would “help to explain Airband’s position and the reasons for the infrastructure.”