Village fights to save its last bank

THE village of Lymm is fighting to save its last bank following the decision by the Lloyd’s Banking group to close its local branch on July 4.
The parish council has applied to Warrington Borough Council to register the branch at Lymm Cross as an “asset of community value.”
Cllr Graham Gowland said: “A working bank is really important for a thriving community and I hope the borough council can see this. We want the premises protected.”
Lloyd’s became the only bank in Lymm – population 12,000 – when Barclay’s closed their branch last year.
Before that a number of other banks and building societies closed in the village – and earlier this year the village centre post office closed suddenly.
So far, efforts to find premises where a new post office could open have proved unsuccessful.
Cllr Gowland appealed to villagers to email the borough council at
[email protected] quoting 2017/30258, telling them why the building needs to be kept as a bank.
In addition, he asked locals to email Lloyds directly on [email protected] telling them why the branch should be kept open.
Cllr Gowland added: “The branch has seen a drop in trade since Warrington Council changed the car park charges, but this is being overturned in June, and we hope the village economy will start to recover.
“But with the closure of our post office, we call on Lloyd’s to support the village – helping Lymm prosper by keeping this important asset open. In return, we hope locals can support the branch and use it regularly.”
The Asset of Community Value application can also be commented on here:
https://tinyurl.com/lloydslymm
At the time they announced the close, Lloyd’s said the branch had only 18 regular weekly personal and business customers.
If the property is registered as an asset of community value it means the owners have to give sixth months notice if they wish to sell it. If a local group then wishes to buy it they can then trigger a moratorium for six months to give them time to raise the money. But there is requirement for the owner to reduce the price.

Dizzy on 13th May 2017 2:09 am 2:09 am

Same with the HSBC bank in Stockton Heath that closed last year too POSITRON. It had been my bank for over 30 years and was regularly used by many. Their customers didn’t want it to close and nor did the staff but YES the HSBC Powers that be still closed it anyway.

Funnily enough I walked past it today and stopped to take a photo as the signs have now gone up for the new cafe that is opening there. Yep another one…….

Regarding the news story and the hope to give Lymm’s bank, I don’t quite understand the reasoning behind the Parish Council applying to have it registered as a ‘asset of community value’ or how that would actually save the bank from closure. Surely that would just save the land and building ?

I understand that registering it as an asset could protect it as always having to be a bank and it protects from demolition too but in the same vein being a community asset would also mean that it couldn’t be converted or used for any other sort of business use or any other use either. So what if no other banks want to move in…surely that could then mean that the building would then just sit EMPTY and UNUSED 🙁

Maybe I’m wrong but at the end of the day the council or the residents can’t force a business, in this case Lloyds Bank, to stay put. Business is business and if they want out then they are entitled to do so regardless of what people think.

Shame though and I really miss having a local bank here that I could just walk to and one where the lovely staff knew us all and treated us like were were friends as well as valued customers. You don’t get that in the main Warrington Branch and it’s a pain having to drive there not to mention having to pay to park too 🙁

4 Comments

positron on 12th May 2017 3:05 pm 3:05 pm

Lloyds Stockton Heath branch had many more than “18 regular weekly personal and business customers”, yet the powers that be at Lloyds HQ decided to close it.

Dizzy on 13th May 2017 2:09 am 2:09 am

Same with the HSBC bank in Stockton Heath that closed last year too POSITRON. It had been my bank for over 30 years and was regularly used by many. Their customers didn’t want it to close and nor did the staff but YES the HSBC Powers that be still closed it anyway.

Funnily enough I walked past it today and stopped to take a photo as the signs have now gone up for the new cafe that is opening there. Yep another one…….

Regarding the news story and the hope to give Lymm’s bank, I don’t quite understand the reasoning behind the Parish Council applying to have it registered as a ‘asset of community value’ or how that would actually save the bank from closure. Surely that would just save the land and building ?

I understand that registering it as an asset could protect it as always having to be a bank and it protects from demolition too but in the same vein being a community asset would also mean that it couldn’t be converted or used for any other sort of business use or any other use either. So what if no other banks want to move in…surely that could then mean that the building would then just sit EMPTY and UNUSED 🙁

Maybe I’m wrong but at the end of the day the council or the residents can’t force a business, in this case Lloyds Bank, to stay put. Business is business and if they want out then they are entitled to do so regardless of what people think.

Shame though and I really miss having a local bank here that I could just walk to and one where the lovely staff knew us all and treated us like were were friends as well as valued customers. You don’t get that in the main Warrington Branch and it’s a pain having to drive there not to mention having to pay to park too 🙁

evil sid on 13th May 2017 7:36 am 7:36 am

Perhaps we could persuade warrington council to open a branch of their bank there to cater to the needs of the people.

Unfortunately the banks excuse for closing branches is that more people are using online banking these days. The reason for that is that the banks are closing branches so they have very little choice but to use online banking. a very catch 22 situation.

togger on 14th May 2017 4:42 am 4:42 am

The problem I see in registering this building as an asset of community value is that it can then only be used as a bank in future. As clearly no banks wish to have a high street presence in Lymm it will probably just remain empty for the foreseeable future and deteriorate.