ANZ Bank has reversed its decision to close its Portland branch in south-west Victoria.

The decision to close the Percy Street location was announced in April and was met with much opposition from the neighborhood.

If the store had closed, customers would have been forced to travel to Hamilton, 85 kilometres to the north, or Warrnambool, 100 kilometres to the east.

In May this year, a report was tabled in federal parliament following an inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia.

A committee concluded that there was “little incentive” for banks to keep regional branches open.

According to the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, 800 regional branches closed between June 2017 and June last year.

Following its takeover by conglomerate Suncorp, ANZ said it was “committed” to maintaining a presence in regional Victoria.

“Our dedicated customer service team will be calling customers they previously contacted around the closure to inform them of the decision to continue operating at this location,” an ANZ spokesperson said.

In an email sent to customers and seen by the ABC, ANZ said the decision to reverse the closure was made “after careful consideration of feedback from customers and the community”.

A pleasant surprise

John Weichert, managing director of a civil works and earthmoving company in Portland, emphasised the importance of personal service in regional Australia.

“I’m honestly very pleasantly surprised by that decision,” he said.

“Maybe it’s a sign that ANZ has recognised that it’s important to have a face behind your service, to have a storefront and to have someone who can shake your hand,” he said.

“It’s a reflection of government services in the same way, other services gradually withdrawing from regional communities… but personal contact and a visible shop front are important.”

Glenelg City Council Mayor Karen Stephens said the council had launched a community campaign to stop the closure.

“We felt it was quite rare to reverse a decision that had already been made, such as closing a branch,” Cr Stephens said.

“The board wrote to ANZ Bank and said, ‘Do you understand that Portland has a huge future? There is expected growth over the next five to 10 years … so maybe this decision is a bit premature.'”

Ms Stephens said the council was looking forward to future growth in the area. The population of the small coastal town had been steadily increasing, with census data showing it now has 11,230 residents, up from 9,712 in 2016.

“As our community grows, there will always be opportunities for new services and expanded services,” she said.

“It is gratifying for our community that they have been heard, that they have stood up and been counted. They have actually been listened to.

John Weichert said his company would no longer do business with ANZ regardless of whether the decision was reversed. He said banks should consider the impact of the service rollback on businesses across Australia.

“Maybe they (ANZ) should also look at how they are going to centralise their business services, just as they have centralised their mortgage lending,” he said.

“Maybe they’ll take the lessons they’ve learned from not closing the facility and look at business services. The focus of businesses has shifted away from communities.”