DARWEN’S Whitehall Park could soon have two groups of volunteers — but it appears unlikely they would be working in much unison.

It is nearly three months since Blackburn with Darwen Council called an open meeting in the Croft Street town hall to discuss membership of Whitehall Park Supporters’ Group.

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Councillor Jim Smith, who chaired the meeting, got a promise from group vice-chairman Austin Molloy that he would put to his members the question of amending the recently adopted constitution “to make it more welcoming to new members”.

It came after the group announced anyone wanting to join the Supporters’ Group was not allowed to do so until the annual meeting each year and then would have to wait a year before they could vote on anything.

Cllr David Foster has told Cllr Smith an amendment hasn’t happened and now a new open meeting is being arranged for mid-March.

Cllr Foster said: “We don’t seem to be making any progress. Now might be the time for us to think about trying to form a new friends’ group.”

Mr Molloy had told the November meeting they were concerned that an influx of new members might take over and possibly spend their funds unwisely.

Cllr Foster said he felt it would be difficult to encourage volunteers to form a new group from scratch but thought it might be the only way forward.

He said: “Hopefully things will not get that far but we will have to wait and see.”

Supporters’ Group chairman John Starbuck, alerted to the proposed mid-March open meeting, said: “We are sending letters out to the members to ascertain their opinion on any changes to the voting system.”