General News
16 February, 2026
Banks, Buses and CCTV
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is coming to Oakey Town Centre this year, while the Oakey Chamber of Commerce is in discussion with MPs about creating a new physical bank.
CCTV in town is being partly funded by the State Government through Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) and is supported by the Oakey Chamber of Commerce and Oakey Police.
Toowoomba Region Mayor Geoff McDonald said TRC is on track to deliver the Oakey Town Centre Community Safety CCTV Project later this financial year.
“The project will involve the installation of CCTV cameras to monitor the main retail precinct of Oakey,” Mayor McDonald said.
“The aim is to capture anti-social behaviours and incidents that might affect community safety.
“The project is an expansion of Council’s existing Community Safety CCTV Program (City Safe) that has traditionally live monitored cameras in the Toowoomba CBD.”
Officer in Charge at Oakey Police Station Sergeant James Leahy said he and his team have been a driving force behind the push to get CCTV in town.
“Our approach is to increase community safety and improve community confidence in Oakey CBD,” Sergeant Leahy said.
“The cameras provide additional support to local businesses and police. This is a progressive step to bring Oakey in line with metropolitan areas.”
Meanwhile, the Oakey Chamber of Commerce has formed a Banking Steering Committee in response to the impending closure of the People First Bank’s Heritage branch in Oakey.
This Steering Committee will explore ways to keep banking and other financial services in Oakey.
Some of the members involved are David Cooper, Keith Swinton, Kim Hammett, Andrew Taylor, and Bruce Finlayson.
The Committee held its first meeting last Thursday, which was attended by Cr Tim McMahon of TRC and by Garth Hamilton MP for Groom.
Mr Hamilton rang in from Canberra and said he is speaking with several banks and groups to gauge interest and requirements for one to come to Oakey.
He requested that the Banking Steering Committee draft a letter of interest to give to potential banks.
A mobile Centrelink van visiting more often was one idea floated at the recent public meeting.
Mr Hamilton said he would follow up on this.
Another idea floated was to use Goondir’s disability friendly bus to get people to Toowoomba to access banking services.
Correspondence from Pat Weir MP indicated that this proposal would come with significant insurance costs.
Cr Tim McMahon spoke about a petition to keep Heritage Bank in Oakey.
