Millbrook to lose its only bank branch
MILLBROOK -- Millbrook’s only bank is closing in August and moving to Peterborough.
The TD Canada Trust on King St. in Millbrook will close on Aug. 18.
It will merge with the branch on Lansdowne St. W. in Peterborough (in the plaza at Webber Ave., across from Lansdowne Place).
Daria Hill, a spokesman for TD, said it’s because of a decline in business at the bank in Millbrook.
The Lansdowne St. W. location has more parking, longer hours and an ATM, she noted in a written statement.
The news came as a shock to some people in Millbrook.
“I’m floored,” said Kathie Lycett, a local realtor and spokeswoman for the Millbrook Business Improvement Area association.
Lycett said the Millbrook BIA works hard to encourage citizens to shop in downtown Millbrook, rather than spend money in Peterborough or even Oshawa.
There are lots of great businesses in the village, she said.
“But the bank has to anchor it all, I think,” she said. “If you’re going to keep people downtown, you’ve got to have a bank.”
If shoppers will be inconvenienced by the loss of the bank, then so will shop owners.
Ian McQuarrie, the owner of the gift shop Bear Essentials on King St., said he uses the TD branch every day.
Yes, he’ll be able to bank online. But what’s he going to do when he needs a roll of loonies?
“If I need change, I’ll have to go to Peterborough,” he said.
Other store owners say the loss of the bank will be a major inconvenience.
“It’ll complicate business on a daily basis,” said Didi Calhoun, the owner of Calhoun’s Foodland in Millbrook.
Calhoun has owned the store for 43 years, and all that time she’s banked at TD.
Although there is an ATM in Foodland, she says people still expect cashback from the grocery store tills whenever the bank is closed.
Or sometimes people want smaller bills, in exchange for the $20s they draw from the ATM.
“When the bank is closed, I become the bank,” Calhoun said.
She expects that to become a daily reality, when the TD closes: “And I don’t think it’s fair.”
Neither does Scott McFadden, the mayor of Cavan Monaghan Township.
He noted that many seniors prefer to bank in person – not online – and may not be able to drive themselves to Peterborough.
McFadden is concerned it will put pressure on Community Care, the service that drives seniors to Peterborough for errands or medical appointments.
He also pointed out that a new 350-home subdivision is about to be built in Millbrook.
That’s the first phase of construction, he said: The second phase could bring 600 to 1,000 more homes.
“It’s definitely a very active market – everyone else is trying to move into Millbrook,” McFadden said.
Brigid Ayotte, the township’s economic development coordinator, said she will work with council to “explore options” such as attracting a new bank to Millbrook.
Another financial institution may see TD’s departure as an opportunity, she said.
That’s her hope: “We want our residents to be able to shop, bank and do whatever they need to do – close to home.”