By JESSE GRAHAM
“WE’RE not going to let it rest here.”
Angry Healesville residents and business owners gathered for a special meeting last Tuesday, to discuss the impending closure of the town’s ANZ bank branch.
Around 24 residents attended the 10 June meeting, which was organised by the Healesville Chamber of Commerce to level frustrations with ANZ representatives.
Last week, general manager of ANZ’s Australian Branch Network, Paul Presland, confirmed to the Mail that no representatives of the bank would be attending the meeting.
Despite this, general manager of Greater Melbourne, Belinda McKay, district manager, Garry Conner, and group general manager of Corporate Affairs, Gerard Brown, all attended to hear the community’s concerns.
Many of the attendees quickly confronted Ms McKay about the decision to close the bank as of 11 July, demanding figures that proved the bank was unviable for the town.
Ms McKay said the branch had undergone a detailed analysis, which pointed to a 25 per cent loss in total business, and the Healesville branch performing well under the company’s average.
“The answer is that it’s not commercially viable,” she said.
Black Spur Nursery owner John Stanhope said the bank had damaged its image in the town, and that, by leaving, it would sever the ability to gain any new business from residents or businesses.
This sentiment was echoed by other attendees, who said they would be closing accounts and ending their use of ANZ EFTPOS terminals at their businesses.
A number of alternative proposals were put forward to the representatives, including the possibility of scaling back hours, scaling back employment at the branch or finding a cheaper location.
Many attendees also criticised the bank for not consulting with account holders before making a decision, and said that senior citizens would be most heavily affected.
However, Ms McKay reaffirmed what Mr Presland told the Mail last week – the decision to close the bank was absolutely final, and not to be revised.
Addressing comments that the meeting had been a waste of time, Ms McKay said that, even though the bank would not reconsider the closure, she thought it was important to gather community feedback.
“The decision has been made,” she said.
“In hindsight, there’s 20/20 vision and … there could have been better ways to manage these decisions.
“(But) from my personal point of view, I don’t feel it’s been a waste of time – I think having your voice is an important thing.”
Ms McKay said the bank would ensure that an ATM would be kept in the town, and would look at the possibility of bringing back a Smart ATM – which allows for money and cheque deposits.
She said the Smart ATM could not be guaranteed currently, due to the current practice of needing staff to process transactions from the ATM – which would be impossible after the branch was closed.
All of the ANZ representatives apologised to the group and to the community for the inconvenience caused by the closure, and said they did not dispute that the closure would cause harm to some community members.
Healesville Chamber of Commerce president Graham Taylor said the community would not let the issue go, and wanted more questions answered from the bank’s head office.
“We need very quick answers, as to why the bank doesn’t want to know these businesses, doesn’t want to know these senior citizens and wants to leave us in the lurch,” he said.
“We’re not going to let it rest here.”
