Leopold banking on community return

Sally Poehland
Leopold residents will have a chance to become shareholders in a community bank tomorrow.
Ward councillor Rod Macdonald said an information tent at Leopold School Fete would seek minimum $500 pledges for shares in the bank.
Cr Macdonald said Leopold was on its way to establishing a community branch of Bendigo Bank amid “overwhelming support”.
More than 100 Leopold residents gathered at Leopold Sportman’s Club last week to discuss the proposal and form a project steering committee.
Cr Macdonald said the proposed branch would return profits to the community.
He expected the bank would generate significant cash for Leopold community projects.
Portarlington’s branch had generated $60,367 in grants last year, he said.
“With the support of residents I’m sure a Leopold Community Bank would be just as successful if not more so because of our larger population base and predicted growth rate.”
Bendigo Community Bank has more than 200 branches in Australia.
Bank regional manager Pat Murnane said the community branch could be up and running in a year if it had enough support.
The community had to raise $700,000 in capital shares to lay the foundation, Mr Murnane said