THE Choose Troon campaign does not represent the whole of the Troon Community. 

That’s the view of one resident who has had posts deleted from Facebook and says that some people are being censored. 

The Troon resident contacted the Herald to explain how they are being dictated to and that their campaign has become concerning. 

They said: “I would like to make you aware of the dictatorship we are experiencing in Troon with the Troon Business Association, a good few residents of the town out with the TBA have voiced our concerns over the attitude and behaviour of this unelected organisation but we are now experiencing censorship from them if we ask too many questions or state hard facts. 

“This happened to me last night after a discussion with Donna Read, suddenly the whole post disappeared, now I have no proof it was her but given the time was after midnight and it was only myself and her in conversation it looks pretty obvious.

“Another post was put up by a resident voicing his disgust at the post being taken down and asking for an explanation, none was forthcoming but again mysteriously the post was taken down.

“We do not believe the TBA are portraying the town in a good light and showing a total lack of respect for the employees currently there. Donna seems to spew out facts and figures but with no solid argument, I pressed her on the subject of how she could be involved with employee status given that TUPE had not been discussed, this was when the post was removed.
“Could you please make sure any future reporting accurately states it’s the unelected TBA making these statements and not the residents as we are being censored by them on social media.

“I guarantee there were no offensive comments, in fact in the second post the guy posting the original question points that out, why did it take up to five days to delete some of them?”

The Herald managed to obtain email notifications in regards to some of the posts and noted no swearing or offensive language. 

A spokesperson for Choose Troon said: “Posts on Troon Facebook pages were deleted due to offensive comments. Whilst the campaign page was initiated by the Troon Business Association we can very much assure you it’s a page for support for a potential bid by ABP one of the biggest port companies in the UK, to have the ferry run from Arran to Troon and everyone is welcome. 

“The page is less than seven days old and has nearly 900 likes. 

“#choosetroon is run by a team of volunteers from the community of Troon who are giving up their time free of charge. No PR companies, media or taxpayers money is involved in running the page. People have been invited to post their questions and we will get answers for everyone in the coming weeks from both ABP and South Ayrshire Council. South Ayrshire Council fully support the campaign along with businesses and the majority of the community. 

“It’s only natural that people will have questions and getting answers will let them make an informed choice to support Troon, Ardrossan or sit on the fence. 

“#choosetroon have written to the transport minister Mr Humza Yousaf and we intend to hold a series of face to face meetings with the community of Arran and Troon. 

“We are mindful that it has potential impact on Ardrossan but our view is that it’s Arran’s ferry it’s their lifeline and we hope to build both community and business relationships with Arran. Ultimately the Scottish government will make their decision.”