People across Ashby and surrounding communities are being urged to back the campaign for a new banking hub.
The council has already asked LINK, the organisation responsible for assessing access to cash and banking services, to carry out a formal Cash Access Assessment for Ashby.
A hub could serve people across Ashby, Ashby Lakeside, Bottesford, Yaddlethorpe, Messingham and parts of Kingsway and Lincoln Gardens – a potential catchment of more than 30,000 people.
Cllr Rob Waltham, leader, North Lincolnshire Council, said: “We believe there is a really strong case for a banking hub in Ashby and now we want residents and businesses to help us demonstrate the level of local support.
“It takes less than a minute to add your name. The more people who back the campaign, the stronger the message we can send that people want convenient access to banking services in this part of North Lincolnshire.
“We have already seen the difference banking hubs can make in Brigg and Barton. Ashby has a large population, a busy retail centre and a wide catchment, and we want LINK to give that case serious consideration.”
Cllr Andrea Davison, ward member for Ashby, said: “We used to have banks on Ashby High Street and the problems we saw when the Post Office temporarily closed showed just how important local access to these services still is.
“Not everybody banks online and people need somewhere they can go face to face. A banking hub would make a massive difference for local residents, shoppers and businesses.”
There is currently no bank branch in Ashby. The council has argued that the area meets a number of the factors LINK considers when assessing the need for additional banking services, including population, retail activity, public transport and journey times to alternative provision.
For residents reliant on public transport, access to the remaining banking facilities in Scunthorpe town centre is already well beyond LINK’s 15-minute benchmark. A scheduled bus journey from Bottesford to Scunthorpe Bus Station, for example, takes around 25 minutes, before waiting time and the onward journey to a bank branch are taken into account.
