Posted: 31st Oct, 2011 By: MarkJ

The port city of
Plymouth (Devon) has successfully campaigned for the UK government to take
another look at boosting local broadband access. The efforts follow on from the city's failure to secure an
Enterprise Zone (EZ), which would have helped grow business through simplified planning rules, access to superfast internet (ISP) connections and tax breaks.
According to
This is Plymouth, the governments Planning Minister,
Greg Clark, will now recommend that the Secretary of State (DCMS),
Jeremy Hunt MP, direct his Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office to work more closely with the city and investigate new options for improving its broadband connectivity.
Gary Streeter, Conservative MP for South West Devon, said:
"This meeting was about more than not getting an EZ. We were able to make the case that Plymouth really ought to benefit from initiatives such as the Regional Growth Fund and other forthcoming growth programmes.
Plymouth can deliver but we have to make that message clear through meetings such as this."
The city is now widely expected to begin development of its own unique proposal for an '
Enterprise Area', which the government has tentatively pledged to support. At this stage it's still too early to know how this will all work out.
The BDUK office announced in August 2011 that both
Devon and
Somerset would share
£31,320,000 to help rural areas access faster broadband services (
here). This sum is unlikely to be increased, if needed, anytime soon (after 2015 perhaps).