Crook: Community bank option may offer hope after Boulder closure
Author: Tony Crook
Published on: 24-February-2010
The Nationals’ candidate for the Federal seat of O'Connor, Tony Crook has welcomed plans for the establishment of a Goldfields Community Bank.
Having met yesterday with Bendigo Bank Community Development Manager Janet Giacomini and Kalgoorlie advocate, businessman Paul Robson, Mr Crook said he fully supported the local push for a community bank.
Mr Crook said after hearing the disappointing news that the Commonwealth bank will close its branch in Boulder next month, any moves towards a community bank would be welcomed.
“The residents and business people in Boulder are dismayed about the imminent closure of the Commonwealth bank and rightly so,” Mr Crook said.
“This decision will impact many local businesses and impose hardship on residents, especially the elderly and frail who will have difficulty travelling into the Kalgoorlie CBD to complete their banking each week.”
With plans progressing well for a Goldfields Community Bank to open in Kalgoorlie in 2010, Mr Crook encouraged the community to welcome and support the initiative, as this could eventually lead to a dedicated sub-branch or outlet in Boulder.
Mr Crook said it was pleasing to note that plans for the Goldfields Community Bank include management by a Steering Committee comprising of local residents and business people, headed by Guardian Pharmacy owner, Paul Robson.
“Further to this, one of the main aspects of the community bank model created by Bendigo Bank is to contribute and improve the economic and social prospects of a local community by employing local staff and retaining local earnings to be put back into the community,” he said.
“Once the branch begins to make a regular operating surplus, after the payment of branch running costs, and the bank’s share of the revenue is received, remaining funds are available to be re-invested back into the community through dividends to shareholders and grants to community groups and projects.”
Mr Crook was pleased to hear of a number of community initiatives and projects that have moved ahead in regional WA as a result of local branches
“Effectively we are seeing a mini version of ‘Royalties for Regions’ taking place,” Mr Crook said.
“Community banks are ‘giving back’ the proceeds to their own towns and regional centres.”
Mr Crook said it was also time for the ‘big banks’ to sit up and take notice of regional customers, who still value a face-to-face approach to banking.
