The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Aberfeldy folk fight for bank
Community vows not to go quietly
Protesters gathered outside a Highland Perthshire bank to oppose swingeing cuts which they say threaten their community.
Campaigners massed outside the Royal Bank of Scotland in Aberfeldy, which is one of dozens of branches ear marked for closure.
Locals fear the bank’s closure could spell the death knell for the village, which has already lost its Bank of Scotland branch, its cottage hospital, its police station and its ambulance station.
Protest organiser Avril Taylor said: “I hope this will make RBS listen. It’s all that we can wish for – that they will take notice. The community is not going to go quietly, that’s for sure.”
Locals in Comrie have also voiced concerns after it was revealed that the village would be left without access to a cash machine after 9pm with the closure of their RBS branch and the removal of the ATM.
Campaigners have vowed to stage further protests if a taxpayer-owned bank continues to push ahead with planned branch closures.
Hundreds of protesters yesterday gathered outside RBS in Aberfeldy, which is one of dozens earmarked for closure, to object to the proposed cuts. Many of them bore banners bearing the slogan “RBS: Killing rural communities.”
In recent years, the town has lost its Bank of Scotland branch, cottage hospital and police and ambulance stations.
Protest organiser Avril Taylor – who owns the Wishing Well card shop – said she was happy with the turnout.
“There were easily more than 100 people here, which was really good,” she said.
“I hope this will make RBS listen. It’s all that we can wish for – that they will take notice.
“The community is not going to go quietly, that’s for sure.
“This shows them that it wasn’t just one person that was worried – the community was united and came together.
“There will be more (protests) if they don’t change their mind.
“If they close the branch I will close my account and go elsewhere and try to get
I don’t want tobe standing in the street with a lot of cash, queueing for half an hour or more
another bank to come into Aberfeldy. “I’m not giving up,” she said. Aberfeldy resident Steven Dow said the RBS closure would be another step in the slow death of the village.
He said: “I feel very strongly about this. When the Bank of Scotland shut we moved all our accounts.
“It was hard enough when they shut and we had an empty building.
“To lose another bank, as well as our tourist information centre, is killing the village.
Mr Dow said he has reservations about using the mobile banking service which RBS has promised to replace the Aberfeldy branch.
He said: “I don’t want to be standing in the street with a lot of cash, queueing for half an hour or more.”
Rod Munro said the bank’s closure would upset the fragile economy in the area.
He said: “The rural business community is in the balance and it’s a very fragile balance – if something major topples it there’s not much to hold it together and small towns like Aberfeldy are very vulnerable.”