Bishop Nick Baines, the Bishop of Leeds, has welcomed a national agreement between the Government and the Church of England aimed at encouraging greater use of church spires and towers to boost mobile connectivity in rural areas.
The accord, signed by the National Church Institutions (NCIs) of the Church of England with the government encourages the Church of England to use its buildings and other property to host digital infrastructure to boost mobile coverage for their local communities.
Bishop Nick said, “We already have a number of churches across our diocese, particularly in rural North Yorkshire, which have installed Wi-Fi transmitters to connect remote communities and boost the local economy.
“This ‘Accord’ will encourage more churches to do so, helping to tackle two of the biggest issues rural areas face - isolation and sustainability.”
65% of Anglican churches and 66% of parishes are in rural areas. Rural churches are at the heart of their communities and are often well placed to address problems of accessing broadband, wifi and mobile signals.
In the Diocese of Leeds, there are several examples of ‘digital infrastructure’ already being used to increase connectivity in local towns and villages.
Holy Trinity, Knaresborough (pictured right) was one of the first churches in the country to install a phone mast inside the church spire more than a decade ago. Churchwarden, Simon Sarmiento, told BBC Look North, “It’s really a benefit to everybody to have this happen. We are talking quite serious money here which is a real bonus to our budget here at Holy Trinity. In fact, without it we would have to cut back on some aspect of our programme.
“I’d strongly urge any church that gets offered the opportunity to put a mast in their spire to seize the opportunity and accept it.”
The accord signed with the goovernment is not just about phone masts, however. It also covers broadband infrastructure, signal boosting, fibreoptic broadband connectivity, and wifi.
More recently, St Chad’s Middlesmoor (pictured top right) in Upper Nidderdale has installed an internet repeater. See a video about this here:
[video:https://youtu.be/Gk9zTC_rebo]
The Rev Darryl Hall, Vicar of Upper Nidderdale and Area Dean of Ripon, said, “The internet repeater installed in St Chad’s is working really well.
“I know some farmers appreciate it because they can check the weather regularly, check the cattle and sheep prices, and are able to do their supermarket shop online.”
The use of churches, as well as other church properties and farm buildings, to host digital infrastructure, will help to deliver the Government’s commitment for everyone to get good quality mobile connectivity where people live, work and travel by 2022.
Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock, said, ““Churches are central features and valued assets for local communities up and down the country. This agreement with the Church of England will mean that even a 15th century building can help make Britain fit for the future improving people’s lives by boosting connectivity in some of our hardest-to-reach areas.”
While the accord seeks to help identify more churches which could offer better mobile connectivity and improve the local economy, churches will continue to have a legal obligations both as an organisation and relating to the care of Church property, and appropriate guidance provided by the Church Buildings Council and Historic England.
The agreement recognises that the Church comprises a number of autonomous entities and office holders with different legal obligations and that the property may also be subject to third party agreements. “Such entities may also have their own aspirations for the use and development of their properties in support of the Church’s mission. Similarly, dioceses will, through their Diocesan Advisory Committees (DACs), need to balance the identified benefits of telecoms provision in the particular circumstances of the parish with other relevant factors.”