Temporary cash point set to be installed in former bank building

A TEMPORARY cash machine is to be installed in a former bank building in Henley.

The landlord of the former NatWest building in Market Place has agreed to allow the town council to reinstate an ATM machine for up to two years while new tenants are found.

At a meeting of the council’s town and community committee on Tuesday last week, councillors recommended that the scheme is approved.

The final decision will be made by the full council on Tuesday.

The committee also recommended an advertising revenue model over charging a transaction fee to cover the £8,280 annual cost of the machine.

Town centre manager Paul Carey said that advertising spaces on two boards next to the machine will be sold at “reasonable” prices, which he hopes will encourage businesses to buy up the spaces.

One main advert will sell for £750 with 10 smaller adverts to sell at £300 each, charged annually, bringing the total revenue for two boards to £7,500.

This would leave a £780 shortfall, which the council will cover. Alternative options included charging a £1.99 or £0.99 transaction fee, which would have resulted in the council profiting up to £2,940.

The new machine is expected to be up and running before the end of the year.

The town council has been exploring options for increasing cash accessibility in the town centre for the past two years as part of its strategic plan.

It has chosen to prioritise spaces it owned itself to avoid the need for permissions from the district and county councils.

It has previously ruled out the 60+ Social Club in Greys Road car park after a consultation with NCR, a national ATM provider, found the impact on members would be too significant.

Other council-owned land at Station Park, Singers Park, the town hall and King’s Arms Barn have all been ruled unsuitable.

Considerations for suitability include power provision, internet access, CCTV coverage, building security, risk of ram-raiding and access for cash replenishment.

Another option was to install a “Pod” ATM in Gardiner Place, next door to the town hall, but this was abandoned when the provider, Pivotal, was found to be “disorganised and unreliable”.

Henley currently has cashpoints outside Sainsbury’s Local and inside WHSmith, both in Bell Street, and inside the Post Office in Reading Road.

There is one remaining bank branch, Nationwide in Market Place, with five other banks closing down.

Since 2019, NatWest and HSBC in Market Place, Barclays in Hart Street, Lloyds in Reading Road, Halifax in Bell Street and Santander in Duke Street have all closed.

The town has now been turned down twice for a banking hub despite petitioning Cash Access UK and LINK.

Calls for the provision of additional ATMs in the town centre have grown, particularly during large events including Henley Royal Regatta, when the ATM on Bell Street has emptied quickly and occasionally gone out of service.