Above: Gembroook MP Tammy Lobato celebrates the opening of the Cockatoo community bank with (from left) Alicia and Lynne Keily, Rachel Lawes and Cockatoo Township Committee chairman Graham Simpson.Tania Martin
COCKATOO and Gembrook residents can now bank locally following the opening of the Bendigo Community Bank in Cockatoo last Friday.
After years of hard work, the opening in McBride Street, Cockatoo, has marked the beginning of a new community bank.
The town has never been large enough to support the development of a proper bank.
After undertaking a feasibility study, a steering committee formed to assess the need for a bank in the town contacted the Bendigo Community Bank’s Upwey branch for help with the project.
More than three years of frustration and hard work later, the doors finally opened.
Opening the bank, Upwey branch chairman Peter Marke said getting the bank in Cockatoo was a pioneering effort by the steering committee and the community.
Bendigo Community Bank manager of marketing and corporate affairs Owen Davies said the opening of the CockatooGembrook branch was a celebration of community.
Mr Davies said the event was a mirror image of the opening of the first Bendigo Bank branch more than 150 years ago.
He said the bank would help to make the community stronger, uniting business and community partnership.
