Another casualty of regional bank branch closures, Lake Cargelligo's National Australia Bank (NAB) shut its doors last week. NAB also recently closed the Warren branch and also those at Gilgandra and Wellington with Narromine's branch closing in 2021.

NAB is not alone in cutting country branches in the Western Plains; among others, Wee Waa's ANZ branch closed in mid 2021 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) closed its Gilgandra branch in December 2022.

John Medcalf, Mayor of Lachlan Shire Council said a real concern about NAB closing the Lake Cargelligo branch was the lack of options for local residents.

"We have no physical branches left," he said. "While there are a couple of agencies and facilities at the post office, its not the same. Tottenham's closest branch banking facilities for NAB are at Dubbo now and for the Lake its Griffith or Parkes."

Mr Medcalf lamented what the loss of the branch meant to a country town like Lake Cargelligo.

"The hardest thing is that banking institutions help keep the community together," he said.

"Organisations, committees and community groups like the CWA enjoy the face to face approach. If committees meet and change the executive committee, it's no longer a simple case of going into the branch and seeing a friendly face to change things. It really makes life difficult."

Warren Shire Mayor Milton Quigley agrees with the sentiment and says that local banking is a way of life for many Warren Shire residents.

When their branch closed last week Warren Shire Council were quick to show their disgust by pulling council's banking from the institution to Commonwealth Bank of Australia who retain a branch in Warren.

“In light of NAB’s closure announcement, we lobbied extensively for the bank to retain its local presence, including writing to their CEO stating this decision was short-sighted, given our vibrant agriculturally based community,” Mr Quigley said.

Mr Quigley said the reply he received was not encouraging, and council investigated the transfer of Council’s banking facilities to "another bank that continues to support our residents by having a branch presence in Warren."

“CBA’s commitment to retain its local branch for at least another three years in Warren Shire, has encouraged Council to support a financial institution that is maintaining its presence and commitment to our community.”

Across all local towns, the closures also warranted concerns around job losses.

"When we contacted the NAB, they assured us no jobs were being lost, and that their local staff will work from home. We're not even sure what that means in this situation. As a council, we will go through the process of considering other options," Mr Medcalf said.

Most importantly, Mr Medcalf said the loss of the local NAB was sad from a community perspective.

"We are losing the personal service of tellers and the community service," he said. "Unfortunately, once a town loses its bank, it's not likely to ever get it back."