Facebook Bus Lane Group Battle

Two rival groups have appeared on popular networking site Facebook. Both groups have been set-up to discuss the controversial bus lane proposal for Darwen, Blackburn and Accrington.

Opposing the bus lane: Local MP, Janet Anderson started the first group named: "Say No to the Bus Lane on the A666 in Darwen"

The group currently has 440 members in support of the campaign. One of the members, Matt Lyons commented "Stop messing with darwen! Over the past few months we've had the upheaval of the one way system, demolition of Crown Wallcoverings, demolition and re-build of the leisure centre and the joke that is the Darwen Academy." He also added "The bus lane will take space off businesses on the main road, and may even cause some smaller businesses to close. It's a very poor idea"

The group was established following the huge support received from the Rotary Club's "NO BUS LANE" leaflet which can be seen in hundreds of residential & shop windows.

The other group "I will boycott businesses that display this poster" is in favour of the bus lane, although boycotting businesses displaying the leaflet possibly isn't the best way to help anyone in Darwen.

This group, established eariler this month by Alex Martindale, only has 36 members despite recent publicity in the Lancashire Telegraph. The group is younger than the one setup by Janet Anderson MP and it remains to be seen which group will eventually gain the most online support.

It appears that the original group is against the proposed bus lane whereas this latest group seems to be against businesses who display the poster. Perhaps a group in favour of the bus lane may have been more constructive and gained more support, but Alex Martindale is basically in favour of a bus lane and doesn't undertsand why so many people are against the idea.

Mr Martindale, a local businessman who works in Darwen and lives in Blackburn, names businesses who display the poster and suggests people refuse to use these shops until the signs are removed.

Both groups put good points forward but it would still appear that most people are against the idea of having a bus lane installed along the A666. 100% of votes in our own online poll are currently against the proposal, although many believe their opinions will be ignored and the lane will ultimately be installed.

Members of Facebook can view/join the groups below:
In favour: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24093326196
Against: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18523317767

Don't forget to register your vote in our poll on the right hand side of our NEWS PAGES.

Update: Since this post 31 additional people have registered for the MP's group, taking the total to 471 whereas Alex's group still has 36 members. Our poll shows 19 people (100%) think the bus lane is a BAD idea. (1st August)

Latest Update: There are now only 35 people in favour of the bus lane yet the group opposing the bus lane idea has grown to 508. It would seem that whilst more people are joining to support the local MP, Alex's group is actually losing members. It isn't just people from Darwen who wouldn't like to see a bus lane introduced, houses in Ewood are now diplaying "NO BUS LANE" signs in their windows.