Cllr Lee Barney
Tonight Cllr Lee Barney raised his first motion and delivered his maiden speech. Lee Barney first raised the issue of broadband during his election campaign in 2011. Lee says this about Broadband "Milton Keynes leads the way on many leading services such as rid road provision, however we are dragging our heals regarding Broadband. Many of my residents are rightly asking why Milton Keynes are not leading the way with Broadband. Many of my residents in Walton Park suffer from sub 1Mbps Broadband, this is clearly unacceptable."
A lively discussion ensued in the council chambers this evening and Cllr Lee Barneys first motion was passed unanimously by the whole Council. Public representation was made by MKBAG, BIZTech and general members of the public, Lee Barney said this, "I thoroughly enjoyed my maiden speech and getting involved in the council process, especially, as this will have very real effects that local residents will begin to feel the benefits of. This truly is the reason why I jumped into politics in the first place."
As a direct result of Lees motion the Council Cabinet will apply for a slice of the £530million fund that is BDUK. This will then allow the Council to partner with Businesses in Milton Keynes and put into place a plan and of course a project that will upgrade the speed which the residents of Milton Keynes can connect to the Internet.
With buy in from Milton Keynes Council, MKBAG, BIZTech and of course big business such as BT and virgin media we truly live in interesting times. Better broadband provision will drive business to Milton Keynes and enable our residents to work from home, access richer services through the Internet and allow our Children to connect and remain on par with the rest of the world when they come to use our infrastructure for work in the future.
Read the speech here
Read the full motion here
