Community vows to fight for bank

About 100 people gather in Ranfurly yesterday to discuss the retention of the district’s only...
About 100 people gather in Ranfurly yesterday to discuss the retention of the district’s only bank. Photos by Lynda van Kempen.
The Maniototo community yesterday vowed to do everything possible to retain the district’s only bank.

About 100 people gathered in Ranfurly to form a plan of attack to prevent the proposed closure of the town’s Westpac Bank.

Proposed closures of 19 branches were outlined to Westpac bank staff last week and bank management said communities had a fortnight to make submissions on the matter. 

Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean, who called the meeting, said Westpac was a big multinational organisation which made a decision affecting Maniototo residents "and I don’t know if they appreciate the impact on this community, which is 90km away from the nearest bank [in Alexandra]". 

The district’s only bank.
The district’s only bank.
Mrs Dean said the Maniototo was growing and to support industry, farming and tourism, it was important for the district to have all the facilities needed,  including a bank.

The best way to fight the decision was to put a really strong case for retention, she said.

"Westpac have phoned me several times already to  see if there’s any information they can give me ...  they’re like a cat on a hot tin roof, and so they should be."

Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper said the district council would make a "strong submission" for the bank to remain open.

The stories aired at the meeting would be included.

"I have no idea how you save a bank, but we’ll give it our best shot," he said.

Maniototo ward councillor Stu Duncan said it was another case of  "the big bullies deciding what they want to do".

All residents would be affected, he said.

Two bank staff in Ranfurly would lose their jobs and the lack of a bank would impact on other businesses.

"This is not just Ranfurly’s loss but Central Otago’s."

Maniototo Business Group chairwoman Amie Pont said there seemed to be no justification for the closure.

She urged people to sign a petition opposing the closure;  500 had already done so.

Several residents said they were concerned that if people had to leave the area to do their banking, they were likely to go shopping out of town as well. 

Senior citizens would struggle if the bank was closed, some said.

Many did not have computers and  would have to rely on drawing  cash from  shops or getting other people to do banking for them.

Internet connection was still unreliable in places and travelling to Alexandra and back in winter conditions was not ideal, other speakers said.

Businesses holding more cash if the bank closed was highlighted as a potential safety risk.

The secretary of the Ranfurly Evergreens (Age Concern group), Karen Munro, said of its 29 members, only six would be able to drive 90km to the nearest bank and only three  members used computers. 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement