MORE than 250 people turned out in Cohuna last Thursday to protest over planned Bendigo Bank agency closures in that town, Pyramid Hill and Barham.
It was a last-ditch bid to stop the July 20 closures, which the agency owners fear will have far-reaching economic impacts on the three communities.
Cohuna and Barham agency owner Lauren Polkinghorne, who operates the services through her real estate business Golden Rivers, said the first she heard about the closures was a phone call at 8.50am on March 30.
“They said they needed to see me now, and when I told them I was busy they said they would be here in 15 minutes.
“Two of them turned up, told me the agencies would be closing and there would be no reversal.
“It came right out of the blue. We had absolutely no inkling there were any problems with the agency structure, and the crowd here today would indicate there is a genuine need to keep them going.
“Bendigo Bank says our transactions were down, but that’s not right, and it doesn’t take into account the social transactions we make – such as Good Friday, when the local (Royal Children’s Hospital) appeal came in with $8500 in coins to be counted. That’s what community banks are here for.”
Pyramid Hill agency owner Mark Lacey made the trip to Cohuna to support the protest as the severity of the decision started hitting home in his town.
He said the town’s part-time pharmacy and Filipino supermarket, which operated from his building, would not be viable without the bank.
“The local footy and netball clubs are cash operations and that means they will have to go to Kerang, so the risk is they will do club shopping there at the same time, they’re also likely to fill their tank, do some private shopping in a bigger town and maybe stay for a meal.
“That’s too much money straight off our town’s local bottom line – once that money starts bleeding out of the local economy, everyone suffers.
“This bank is all about community, well that’s what Pyramid Hill is, and now it is simply turning its back on us and walking away.
“It’s so wrong and so many of the town’s older residents, in particular, are genuinely distressed about what this will mean to their lives.”
Nick Marrow, of Yarrawalla, near Pyramid Hill, was waving a large protest placard after making the trip to Cohuna.
He said the Bendigo Bank decision was another example of regional communities having their rights chipped away by a banking system determined to make everyone fit into its digital strategy.
“As soon as I heard about today’s protest I knew I had to be part of it, to support a regional community that is about to become another victim of big-money business,” Mr Marrow said.
“The world has changed very quickly since COVID and community is increasingly the cost of that change.”
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh told the meeting Bendigo Bank should have given communities the chance to process the closure decisions and take steps to offset the July 20 deadline.
He says the bank had “betrayed” its origins and the people who trusted it with their savings and helped get it up and running.
In letter sent to customers, and seen by the Gannawarra Times, the bank said it was “never a decision we make lightly”.
“However, as more and more customers choose to do their banking online or over the phone, our bank must respond and invest to support these changes in customer behaviour,” the letter said.
“Bendigo Bank has been well supported by the people of Cohuna and we regret any inconvenience the cessation of this service may cause.”
The letter directed customers to the Kerang branch.
