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Ultrafast broadband at the Northern Gateway

Colchester Fibre is bringing brand-new, gigabit broadband connectivity to the borough.

We want to ensure that every new home and business across the Northern Gateway is installed with gigabit broadband and a multi-service provider television and telephony service, ready to activate on the day new residents move in.

Since work began in March, the core network and the building of two data distribution facilities at Colchester Town Hall and Colchester Northern Gateway, which link to the UK’s high capacity data link at London’s Docklands, has been completed. Over the next five years a further 90 km of network will be laid across the borough to enable around 25,000 more customers to get connected.

We’ve seen how the coronavirus crisis has underlined the importance for many of being able to work from home with reliable connectivity, and Colchester will receive a world-class infrastructure as a result of this project.

The work is being made possible thanks to a £3.3 million investment from the Government’s Local Full Fibre Network Fund (LFFN) and is part of a package of £13.5 million Government and private investment to help provide gigabit broadband across Colchester. This will ensure that Colchester becomes one of the best-provisioned towns in the country, helping to assist the economic recovery that will be so vital over coming years.

A greener home for your business

Colchester Borough Council is committed to being climate-friendly and cutting emissions. This means that the Northern Gateway will benefit from a host of green initiatives, including a carbon-cutting energy project, Heat Network.

A tree-lined, pedestrian and cycling thoroughfare, The Walk, will run through the southern part of Colchester Northern Gateway, linking nearby homes to the Leisure Park. The Walk will be planted with native trees and seasonal shrubs to increase biodiversity and offer visitors all year-round appeal. Extensive landscaping, street furniture, water features and green spaces will encourage visitors to relax, socialise and play.

New routes will open-up Northern Gateway Leisure Park for walkers and cyclists, while a Fastned EV charging station will attract users of electric vehicles. The scheme is within easy walking distance of Colchester Park and Ride.

Healthy Habit

A tree-lined, pedestrian and cycling thoroughfare, known as The Walk, runs through the southern part of Colchester Northern Gateway.

This green and attractive, 600 metre, multi–user route will be accessible to all and will link the residential homes and communities situated to the north-east of the area with the future leisure development located west of the site.

The Walk will be planted with native trees and seasonal shrubs to increase biodiversity and offer visitors all year-round appeal. Associated landscaping, street furniture and facilities will provide wider opportunities for relaxing, socialising, exercise and play.

To encourage biodiversity, we have also planted over 500 new native and ornamental trees at the Sports Park. These include silver birch, wild cherry, field maple, rowan, blackthorn, hawthorn and English oak; almost 87,000 native saplings and over 30,000 shrubs, perennials, grasses and wild meadow plants.

On the southern side of the Northern Gateway, we are managing surface water and run off from rainfall by creating bio-retention ponds. These shallow landscape depressions help remove pollution and reduce water levels downstream.