Graham met campaigners against the proliferation of telegraph poles to deliver broadband competition to KCOM at one of his regular street surgeries in Beverley.
Campaigners came to see Graham following the news that he is to meet Minister for Digital Infrastructure at a round table discussion in Parliament on 25th March.
The campaigners pressed Graham on their view that telegraph poles should be removed from Permitted Development regulations in the Electronic Communications Code 2013 to save towns and villages like Hedon, Beverley and Preston from the blight of poles being erected on their streets without their consent, where underground ducts already deliver high speed broadband to homes.
Last Friday morning it was announced that KCOM has made an offer to share its infrastructure with Connexin. This has been months in the making following significant pressure on the Hull provider from Graham.
While this is a welcome development, the time scales (with infrastructure sharing a possibility only in 2025) are considered to be far too long by campaigners, and Graham is in full agreement.
Graham will be pressing the Minister to force KCOM to open up at the earliest possible opportunity and, in the meantime, is encouraging Leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Cllr Anne Handley, to enter into a Voluntary Charter with the telecommunications companies, as recently agreed in Hull.
In addition to finding a long-term solution to the proliferation of poles in the East Riding, Graham has been working closely with MS3 and Connexin to encourage greater community engagement, which has given residents the chance to put their concerns to companies directly.
This commitment is enshrined in the voluntary charter in Hull.
Graham will continue to fight for residents of Beverley and Holderness, and continues to put concerns from residents about pole placement to MS3 and Connexin on a weekly basis.
Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart said: “People are incredibly frustrated with the ongoing saga of telegraph poles in towns and villages across the East Riding.
“I heard their views at my street surgery and have heard them loud and clear.
“These are first class campaigners who are deeply concerned at what’s happening to their communities, and I’m doing all I can to stop the proliferation of ugly and unnecessary poles in Beverley and Holderness.
“KCOM has now recognised that it has to work with competitors following pressure from the Government but it has to move much more quickly to sort out this sorry situation.
“I’m continuing to work with all companies to get a resolution and will be putting forward to the Minister in person next week the concerns of the hundreds of residents who have been in touch.”
