By Emma Xerri
Cockatoo’s Community Bank branch is set to close in the coming months, after Bendigo Bank Community Bank has made the decision to move its Cockatoo branch to Emerald.
This transition from Cockatoo to Emerald will take place over the next few months, once the building at 344 Belgrave-Gembrook Road has been fitted out to meet the expansion requirements, with the Emerald Bendigo Bank Agency continuing to operate until then.
“We are delighted that there will be a Community Bank full-service branch in Emerald,” Emerald and District Co-Operative Chair, Ric Holland said.
“We have been running the Agency since 2009 and we are so pleased that the people of the Emerald area and beyond will have this new facility right on their doorstep.”
However, concerned Cockatoo locals have turned to online community groups to express their frustrations over the inconvenience of their branch’s closure.
“We’re extremely disappointed that this decision has been made without any community consultation,” Secretary of Connecting Cockatoo Communities, Rachel Mechielsen said.
“20 years ago the Cockatoo locals rallied together and put in hundreds of hours of volunteer work and significant fundraising to establish the bank, so to have it taken away without any consultation is extremely poor.
“I understand that the bank needs to make its operations sustainable, but that doesnt help our residents who have limited mobility or limited access to transport, or the local businesses and community groups who now need to travel to the next town up to do their banking.”
As a devout member of local emergency response groups, Ms Mechielsen also expressed concerns over the impacts that the bank, and eventual ATM closure will have on the community in the case of another extreme weather event.
“There are also major concerns about Bendigo Bank only committing to retain the ATM for a period of some months,” she added.
“This will have a significant impact through reduced access to cash, particularly if we end up going through another storm event where people need cash because there’s no EFTPOS.
“The Bendigo bank site was one of the sites we had earmarked for power resilience to ensure that the ATM would work even in a storm event, so to have that taken away severely limits residents’ access to cash.”
However, Dandenong Ranges Community Finance Limited Company Chair, Deb Weber, maintains that the hope is for “this new branch [to] help support the businesses and residents of the region.”
“Part of the community bank model is to put money back into the community and this is only possible when the business comes in the door. We already have a great connection with community groups, businesses and residents, and we are hoping to build on that.
“As with all things in business, there are challenges and sometimes changes have to be made.
“We are taking the opportunity to update our business model and consolidate our Upwey and Belgrave operations. The two sites are only 2.4 km apart. The Belgrave branch will cease operations once the new branch is established in Emerald.
“This will enable us to relocate staff from both Cockatoo and Belgrave to either the new branch in Emerald or to our flagship branch in Upwey.
“ATM’s at Cockatoo and Belgrave will remain for the time being.
“We are certainly not walking away from the Belgrave area with our commitment to contributing to community groups in the area. We will still be providing support, both banking and through sponsorships. Hundreds of grants and sponsorships have benefitted groups in the Belgrave area also, and this will continue.”
