July | August 2025 Newsletter
I think we’re going to have that long, hot summer that we’ve been promised for so long but Wimbledon is coming up, so it usually rains then! This month we have articles on broadband, an introduction to our new county councillor and details of new exercise classes coming to the village hall.
Published: 30 June 2025
The parish council recently undertook a survey about broadband connectivity in the Holbeck area. Whilst Norton and Cuckney are served by a part fibre connection from the Warsop Exchange, Holbeck is served by the Creswell Exchange and has historically experienced difficulties due to the remote location of some of the properties.
The survey identified that Holbeck Woodhouse and Holbeck do now have a decent part fibre to cabinet service available through the Openreach Network, through which many mainstream broadband providers can provide speeds of up 70mbps. However, High Holbeck and some of the outlying farms and properties remain on the copper cables, and speeds are unlikely to go above 7mbps or more. Greater speed packages are available through BT but these are very costly and are not available through other mainstream providers such as Talk Talk, Sky and Utility Warehouse etc.
High Holbeck is mainly served by Sharpe IT Services, a local provider who buy in a service to Lady Margaret Hall and it is then beamed to the various properties via dishes on the old radio mast near the church. Speeds of up to 20mbps are available but users have reported slower speeds at times and have had varying difficulties.
Cllrs Nancy Wright, Gemma Palmer and I met with Darren Cooling, the
Managing Director of Sharpe IT, to discuss the service and future developments. Darren was able to explain to us how the service worked and how the company can speedily deal with any technical issues. They do have a decent relationship with local users and recognise their needs.
There was a recognition that the service has its limitations and delivering broadband services to rural locations was not without challenges. I would like to place on record thanks to Darren for taking the time to meet with us and be open and honest about the logistics of operating the service.
The Council has limited powers other than to act as an advocate for the residents but has agreed that it is our ambition to see equality of broadband services throughout the parish. To that end, the council agrees that the best long-term options for High Holbeck would be an expansion of the part fibre from Holbeck.
The Council will be writing to Openreach to request a meeting and to the MP for Bassetlaw (Jo White), as she has expressed a desire to see rural broadband expanded. We will be liaising with our newly elected County Councillor Kelvin Wright and our current District Councillor Charles Adams as well.
The council will continue to liaise with Sharpe IT regarding the current service and will endeavour to see service levels maintained and sustainable in the immediate future.
Cllr James Palmer
