Barnard Castle’s banking hub is moving to a permanent home.
Currently situated in The Witham, the hub will be relocated to office space in Woodleigh, on Flatts Road, a building that is also the home of Barnard Castle Town Council.
However, the Mercury understands that the new location will not feature a 24-hour cash machine that will be accessible outside of the hub’s business hours.
The current hub was established in April last year in a temporary location with the promise that a permanent “high street” home would be identified as soon as possible.
Now, more than a year on, that home has been identified and plans to convert part of the ground floor in Woodleigh to accommodate the hub have been submitted to Durham County Council.
According to those plans, an ATM will be situated within the building, not on an external wall.
County councillor Richard Bell was one of the campaigners for a banking hub following the closure of the town’s high street banks.
Responding to the news that the banking hub at Woodleigh won’t feature a 24/7 ATM, he said: “If true, the lack of the cashpoint is very concerning.
“That was one of the main things we wanted a hub to do, to provide secure, 24/7 cash to fill the gap left by the often unreliable private machines in town.
“At the Post Office you can get cash and bank cheques, which means the only thing the hub will do over and above that is enable you to talk to your bank staff.
“So the new hub would duplicate the daytime cash facility of the Post Office but provide nothing out of hours. It’s a wasted opportunity.”
The Mercury contacted Cash Access, the company which runs banking hubs in the UK, to enquire about the lack of a 24/7 ATM in the new plans.
However, a spokesman simply said: “We’re working hard on delivering a permanent home for the banking hub in Barnard Castle and we will confirm these details in due course.”
Cllr Chris Foote-Wood, who is a town and county councillor, also campaigned for a banking hub along with Cllr Bell and Cllr Ted Henderson, and he welcomed the news that a permanent home has been identified.
“I am utterly delighted that the long and difficult search for a permanent home for the Banking Hub has concluded,” he said.
“The temporary hub at the Witham has been a great success, with Teesdale residents now able to have face to face meetings with officials from five banks, each one day a week.”
On the lack of a 24/7 ATM, Cllr Foote-Wood added: “It would also be extremely disappointing not to have the promised 24-hour cash machine – so important to residents and visitors alike – but if so we will continue to fight for one.”
