THE suburb of Curtin is only months away from seeing a Bendigo community bank open in its local shopping precinct, if pledges continue to come in from the community.

Recently, Molonglo Financial Services and the Curtin Community Bank Project steering committee launched their prospectus for the Curtin Community Bank Branch.

Already the project has attracted the support of almost 250 pledges, raising about $830,000.

Curtin Community Bank spokesperson Nick Tsoulias said the Curtin shops needed a bank to reinvigorate trade after big banks, including Commonwealth and Westpac, pulled out of the site.

“We just hope our project will be an inspiration to other parts of the ACT,” he said.

“It’s not impossible and it does take work but it can happen at the will of the people.

“It’s the community that has chosen to do this and we don’t want to see our retail on the decline, see our shopping centres desolate.

“We want to reinvigorate trade and local community.”

The community bank model runs like a franchise with the community owning rights to operate a Bendigo Bank branch.

The community forms a public company limited by purchasing shares. All capital raised not only goes towards the construction of the branch, but back into the general running of the branch.

Once complete, the branch will employ six staff and will offer all the same services of a big bank, such as personal savings and investments; business solutions; commercial finance, leasing, financial planning; superannuation; internet and phone banking; and video conferencing.

This month the committee hopes to turn pledges into shareholdings with the goal of selling $750,000 worth of $1 shareholdings.

Curtin is not the first site for a community bank, with Bendigo community banks set up in Calwell and Wanniassa in 2002, joining 274 community banks around Australia.

Mr Tsoulias said he hopes that Curtin will see its own community bank by December with a completed branch by February.

More information at www.wodencb.com.au