Phone us on - 01789 532202 
admin@nunnjones.co.uk 
Back to blog

Case Study: Gigaclear

Posted on 8th April 2021 at 17:28
Wayleave Identification and Acquisition, realising significant cost and time savings for the client, and achieving FTTP connectivity to rural areas of Somerset. 
End Client: Gigaclear 
Scope: Wayleave Identification and Acquisition 
Challenge: To identify landowners and agree wayleave agreements on behalf of Gigaclear Limited for its Gigabit Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) programme across the whole of Somerset. 
Background 
Gigaclear was a selected partner of Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) to provide high capacity full-fibre broadband to rural areas of the South West. This is a part of the Government’s programme to vastly increase broadband capacity to rural areas. The network is exclusively installed underground and follows routes along roads as well as through farmland and woodland. The programme is governed by strict deadlines and switch-on dates. Hard-dig solutions in the highway can cost as much as 5 times as soft-dig solutions so the financial pressure to achieve private wayleaves with landowners was intense for the client. By means of swiftly identifying landowners and contacting them to explain the requirement and negotiate both routes and payments we were able to successfully agree a very high number of agreements, often across very intricate and varying routes. The project required close collaboration with the client’s project planning and design teams as well as with a diverse mixture of landowners, their tenants and other interested bodies. Areas covered included stretches of protected and sensitive land as well as many rivers, ditches, field drainage systems and valleys. 
Solution 
The adoption of a strict contact protocol coupled with detailed intelligence gathering as to the nature, business interests and concerns of the landowners meant that when we approached them, we could do so with a firm understanding of likely areas of concern and have solutions and suggestions. We adopted a policy of meeting face to face with as many concerned landowners as possible and took the time to understand and find solutions to concerns such as potential compromise to drainage systems, potential future development and concerns over changing land-use. 
Achievement 
Many wayleaves were able to be re-planned from within the road network to agricultural and other land, realising significant cost and time savings for the client, minimising delays and congestion due to roadworks and achieving FTTP connectivity to rural areas of Somerset that had previously had inadequate broadband speeds. 
Background 
Gigaclear was a selected partner of Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) to provide high capacity full-fibre broadband to rural areas of the South West. This is a part of the Government’s programme to vastly increase broadband capacity to rural areas. The network is exclusively installed underground and follows routes along roads as well as through farmland and woodland. The programme is governed by strict deadlines and switch-on dates. Hard-dig solutions in the highway can cost as much as 5 times as soft-dig solutions so the financial pressure to achieve private wayleaves with landowners was intense for the client. By means of swiftly identifying landowners and contacting them to explain the requirement and negotiate both routes and payments we were able to successfully agree a very high number of agreements, often across very intricate and varying routes. The project required close collaboration with the client’s project planning and design teams as well as with a diverse mixture of landowners, their tenants and other interested bodies. Areas covered included stretches of protected and sensitive land as well as many rivers, ditches, field drainage systems and valleys. 
Solution 
The adoption of a strict contact protocol coupled with detailed intelligence gathering as to the nature, business interests and concerns of the landowners meant that when we approached them, we could do so with a firm understanding of likely areas of concern and have solutions and suggestions. We adopted a policy of meeting face to face with as many concerned landowners as possible and took the time to understand and find solutions to concerns such as potential compromise to drainage systems, potential future development and concerns over changing land-use. 
Achievement 
Many wayleaves were able to be re-planned from within the road network to agricultural and other land, realising significant cost and time savings for the client, minimising delays and congestion due to roadworks and achieving FTTP connectivity to rural areas of Somerset that had previously had inadequate broadband speeds. 
Share this post: