"I’m really concerned for the people of Ranfurly as they face the loss of the town’s one and only bank," she said in a statement yesterday.
"I accept there may be changes to the way banking services are delivered but I’m concerned businesses, farmers, families and elderly people will be disadvantaged by this shutdown."
Proposed closures were outlined to Westpac bank staff on Wednesday night.
Westpac plans to close its branches at the Gardens, in North Dunedin, and Ranfurly.
They were among 19 marked for closure across the country.
More than 70 jobs were at stake, a union official said. Mrs Dean said, to its credit, Westpac was prepared to consult the public over the closure but the two-week timeframe gave Maniototo residents little chance to make their case.
She will be available on Friday between 11am and noon at the Wallace Memorial Room in John St to talk to residents about the plan and take their concerns to Westpac "in the hope that a solution can be found", she said.
On Wednesday, Maniototo Business Group chairwoman Amie Pont said the proposed bank closure had "outraged" residents.
Its closure would mean the loss of two jobs, an inability for local businesses to bank, lack of access to bank services for senior citizens who did not travel or did not do internet banking and a lack of banking services for an increasing number of visitors to the area, she said.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper said the pending closure was disappointing as the nearest bank was 90km away in Alexandra.
The council could look at providing bank services through its Ranfurly service centre if that helped, he said.
