Steering Committee member Stuart Greig had the pleasure of marking in $300,000 on the pledge barometer.
By Kath Gannaway
THE Healesville Community Bank campaign last week reached a major milestone with $300,000 in pledges on the books.
“Although the campaign is still in the early stages, the support so far from the community has been overwhelming,” steering committee chairman Gary Slater said.
Mr Slater told a public meeting on Monday 21 September that the pledge target was $750,000 – the minimum amount needed to get a community bank up and running.
Fifty thousand dollars was pledged on the night.
Healesville residents attending the meeting heard representatives from the steering committee and Bendigo Bank talk about the campaign progress to date for the proposed Healesville Community Bank Branch (Bendigo Bank) and the benefits a local community bank branch can deliver to the 3777 communities.
“There were a number of questions from locals who were interested to hear examples of how other community bank branches have returned money to local community projects,” Mr Slater said. “There are now over 240 community bank branches throughout every state of Australia and the ACT,” he said. “Many of these are making more than $30,000 in profits per month for their community – these profits are available to be distributed within their community as dividends to shareholders, and also to fund local community-based projects. We are excited by the incredible benefits a community-owned community bank branch has the potential to bring to Healesville and surrounds,” he added.
Mr Slater said the support of a broad cross section of the community – which includes traders, business people and residents, was needed.
“Our volunteer steering committee is working tirelessly to get our message out to as many people as possible, and we will be holding further information evenings in the coming months as well as information stalls at Healesville market and shopping precincts,” he said. “We want everyone in the community to have a sense of ownership and pride in this project,” he said.
Residents can keep track of progress on the pledge barometer on Church Street wall of Barry Plant Real Estate.
For further information, or to obtain a pledge form, phone steering committee members Gary Slater on 0421 319 640, Andrew Ricketson on 0417 506 718 or Stuart Greig on 0408 353 055.
