STEER

The main project we have planned over the coming months is to get as many of the phone and power cables underground as possible. Have a look in the Photo Gallery where there are photographs by Malcolm Lee which give an idea of the way the overhead cables in the village look at present. 
One of the photos shows Dan Rogerson M.P. visiting Port Isaac, and you can read about his visit on his website.
See below for most recent press statement on progress.

PRESS RELEASE

Port Isaac Cable Undergrounding: Will BT miss the boat?
St Endellion Economic Regeneration (STEER) is a small community group working towards burying the unsightly power and telephone cables within the Port Isaac Conservation Area. This project came out of the St Endellion Parish Plan, in which 86% of the community wanted the cables buried. We have received magnificent support from both St Endellion Parish Council, who have allocated £20,000 towards the project, and North Cornwall District Council who have allocated £50,000. Western Power (WP) (responsible for the power cables) and Cornwall County Council (responsible for the street lights) have both been supportive and are supplying materials in kind.

It had proved difficult to get any response at all from British Telecom (BT) until STEER enlisted the support of Dan Rogerson MP in spring 2007, following which a member of BT’s staff finally turned up to look at what was involved. He was less than enthusiastic as he explained that it was not his job to do this, but he had drawn the short straw. In September 2007, STEER was staggered to receive an estimate for almost £300,000, with a demand for some £4,000 before BT would give a definite quote. This hardly seemed in the spirit of a project partner, but further efforts by Dan Rogerson persuaded Bob Challacombe, a senior director of BT Openreach, to visit Port Isaac to see the problem first hand. He acknowledged the aged nature of our infrastructure, with some poles bearing the ancient scars where BT staff had ascended the poles using crampons in pre-health and safety days! He was shown the work done by BT in Middle Street, Port Isaac during 2005, where trenching and conduit work in preparation for undergrounding BT services (totally unrelated to the STEER project) had taken place at considerable disruption to the village. It remains unfinished to this day, with frayed blue nylon ropes sticking out of the conduits all along this attractive street. Mr Challacombe was unaware why this work had been undertaken, nor why it had not been completed.

In January 2008, STEER received a revised estimate for £166,000, but demanding almost £7,000 before a definite quote could be given. After further negotiation, BT accepted £1,700 to undertake the full quote. This was received in June 2008. After an unexplained £21,000 reduction for ‘betterment’, the total cost was in excess of £100,000, including over £15,000 VAT. Following the cessation of Objective One funding, and its replacement funding being for large projects, together with preparations for London 2012 Olympics soaking up Lottery money, funding is not available for such work.

In July, STEER was surprised to hear that some residents in Port Isaac Conservation Area had received a letter from Fujitsu Telecom (attached) advising that they were going to underground the telephone cables in Church Hill ‘in order to meet current telephone network construction standards’. This had never come up in any discussions with senior BT staff, and, following a recent meeting with BT, we are led to believe this was nothing to do with the STEER project. BT confirmed to us that they have now cancelled this undergrounding of Church Hill. We are unsure whether this is a case of the right hand in BT not knowing what the left hand is doing, or whether BT were trying to keep quiet about their obligations to ‘meet current telephone network construction standards’ in order to get a small community group to pay the cost of upgrading the antiquated infrastructure of one of the country’s largest and most profitable companies.

BT are treating STEER as if it were a commercial company wishing to upgrade its facilities. Were this the case, it would not be unreasonable for BT to make a charge, but the Port Isaac telephone network is not STEER’s, but BT’s infrastructure to enable it to sell its telecommunications services.

In any undergrounding scheme, the cost of the trenching work is significant. STEER has obtained funding for these anticipated costs, and is offering the trenches to BT for their joint use with WP, who would like to start undergrounding their cables and removing poles early in 2009.

Many of the poles currently used jointly by  WP and BT do not fall within the tarmac surface of the public highway, with many wholly within the curtilage of private land adjoining the highway. Once WP remove their cables, BT will need to seek a fresh wayleave to continue their occupation of such private land. When electricity and telephones first arrived here, adjacent landowners were undoubtedly happy to provide wayleaves, as the benefits to the community were obvious. The position may not be the same now, as we are aware that some adjacent landowners feel strongly that they would not grant a wayleave just to save BT money, as this would be seen as frustrating the aims of a publicly funded scheme to underground the cables within the conservation area. With a practical cable undergrounding scheme going ahead, those who have existing wayleaves with BT may wish to terminate them for the same reasons. Any consequent rewiring following wayleave withdrawals will need to meet those ‘current telephone network construction standards’.

Undergrounding the cables will bring benefits to BT, as they acknowledge that underground wires suffer less weather damage than overhead wires, needing less maintenance. Weather damage on copper wires is likely to be an even more important factor here, with the salt laden gales so frequently experienced by the West Coast.

It is clearly in everyone’s interest to minimise disruption to our community by digging up the roads just the once (BT already disrupted our community in 2005, but then abandoned the work!). It is also clear that BT will need, at some time in the not too distant future, to upgrade their antiquated infrastructure here in Port Isaac. They have been offered the free use of the trenches, but have refused unless someone pays all their costs. They have a chance to come on board with the STEER project. Will they miss the boat?

CONTACTS:

David Raynor - STEER Chairman 01208 880581

Bob Challacombe – South-west Regional Director, BT Openreach 01392 296484

Jeff Ryder - BT Repayments Project Engineer 01752 261176