Nusrat Ghani, MP for Sussex Weald, convened another meeting with LINK to press them on their current assessments and reinforce the need for a Banking Hub in Crowborough.
With the Crowborough branch of Lloyds Bank closing in June, the town will be left without any traditional in-person banking, leaving residents and retailers with reduced access to cash.
In February, LINK’s assessments concluded that Crowborough did not require a banking hub once Lloyds closes. Despite an appeal submitted by Nusrat, alongside the Crowborough Chamber of Commerce and Crowborough Town Council Mayor Cllr Natalie Whittle, which contains credible data backing the need for such facility, LINK continue to assess Crowborough as not requiring a banking hub.
One of the reasons for this is that Crowborough does not fit LINK’s requirement of 70+ cash reliant businesses within a 1-mile radius from the town high street. While LINK assesses Crowborough as being home to 66 businesses within those parameters, both Nusrat and The Crowborough Chamber of Commerce continue to stress the unique nature of the town and the need to include Jarvis Brook in these assessments, especially due to the lack of any accessible cash services in that part of town.
At the meeting, LINK have committed to look again at the businesses included in their assessment, with the help of further data provided by the Chamber of Commerce.
Nusrat Ghani said: “Nobody knows a local community like the people who live there and those who are elected to represent it. Jarvis Brook is a key part of Crowborough, and I find it unacceptable that LINK failed to include the needs of those businesses in their assessment. With the support of all local residents who filled in my survey and the support of Crowborough Chamber of Commerce, we have been able to provide LINK with community-focussed data reflecting the true need of a Banking Hub, and I hope this will lead to a better outcome. We have a precedent of Banking Hubs working well, with Hailsham being a fantastic example. We have enough evidence to prove that Crowborough communities deserve one too and I will continue to challenge LINK’s current assessment of Crowborough’s needs.”
