Rishi Sunak MP receives Bilsdale mast progress update

MP for Richmond (Yorks) visited Chop Gate, near the site for the new mast on 25 November

Arqiva, the leading UK communications infrastructure and media services company and owner and operator of the Bilsdale mast, has provided Rishi Sunak MP with a progress update on restoration of the Bilsdale mast following the fire in August 2021. 

The mast site sits in Mr Sunak’s Richmond (Yorks) Constituency and the visit, to The Buck Inn, Chop Gate, was within sight of the new mast.  

Arqiva CEO, Shuja Khan, alongside members of the project team building the new mast, provided details of the project so far, including a reminder that the new mast is expected to be providing TV signals to the area in Spring 2023. 

Temporary masts and relay stations have provided the service to the vast majority of viewers and listeners in the period since the fire. 

We’re sorry for the ongoing disruption caused by the fire at our Bilsdale mast. The Arqiva team has been in close and regular contact with Mr Sunak since the fire, to provide help and guidance to those who were experiencing problems with their service as a result and we have now restored some services to more than 99.5% of those affected.

This incident highlighted the value that the public put on the TV and radio services that they get through an aerial and I’m grateful for Mr Sunak’s support for our mast rebuild project and welcome the opportunity today to update him personally on our good progress.

When complete, the Bilsdale mast will be one of the tallest structures in the country, and under normal circumstances a build of this kind would take up to two years. We are working hard to complete the job in a significantly shorter timeframe to restore full service for everyone in the area. 

Shuja Khan, CEO, Arqiva  

The fire at Bilsdale transmitter in August last year caused significant difficulties for many of my constituents, many of them elderly, who rely on broadcast television and radio services to watch and listen to their favourite programmes. While the vast majority of constituents did have their service restored shortly after the fire, I am pleased to receive reassurance that plans for the full restoration of these services are on track for spring 2023.

Rishi Sunak, MP for the Richmond (Yorks) constituency