Eketahuna residents angry cash source dried up.

Money matters: Charlie Death, left, chairman of the Eketahuna Community Board and Rena Tyler of Eketahuna Our Town, speak out against the Tararua District Council's removal of the money exchange. 3 Ma

Eketahuna residents are angry the Tararua District Council has removed their money exchange without sufficient consultation.

The decision by the council to close Eketahuna's free money withdrawal arrangement, run out of the council-owned library and service centre, drew an angry response at April's council meeting.

Established in 2007, the money exchange provided a service for residents, especially pensioners and tourists, with Eketahuna's last bank having closed more than 20 years ago.

"All residents of Eketahuna, especially the elderly, deserve better," Rena Tyler of Eketahuna Our Town, told councillors.

"I would like the decision to close the service to be reversed."

Charlie Death, chairman of the Eketahuna Community Board, reiterated Tyler's concerns.

"This has caused a lot of upset for our residents," he said.

With 1454 transactions last year, council hadn't consulted widely on the closure because it didn't want to advertise the fact the exchange service was storing large amounts of money.

In the meantime, to help residents, the limit for withdrawals from the Four Square ATM have been lifted from $100 to $200, but some people are not happy with the $2.50 transaction fee, when the council-run service was free.

However, councillors were told the free service at the council money exchange had been "an oversight" during a time of staff changes. "It's come back to bite us on the bum," councillor Peter Johns said.

Death has asked a council representative to attend the Eketahuna Community Board's public meeting next Tuesday, May 15, to properly inform residents why the service was closed and to outline options for replacing the money exchange which includes talking to other ATM providers.