CONFUSION over the purpose of a new council initiative has led to frustration among residents and traffic campaigners.

A new initiative by Hampshire County Council was branded a "fiasco" after organisers of the first Hampshire Action Team (HAT) meeting in Basingstoke announced a last-minute change of venue.

Only four members of the public turned up at the meeting at Beechdown conference centre, off Winchester Road, Basingstoke, on December 1.

The meeting was advertised on Hampshire County Council's website as a public meeting taking place at the Haymarket Theatre, in Wote Street.

Councillor Martin Biermann, who represents Chineham on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and is also a parish councillor, said: "There was major confusion. At one point, I was invited as a representative of my parish council.

"I later understood it was a meeting for county councillors and that members of the public were merely invited to listen to the discussion."

He said one resident, a young mother who had travelled to the Haymarket with her child to attend the meeting, was unable to get to Beechdown.

The HATs have replaced the Hampshire transport advisory panels and are supposed to "engage" the public more.

Hatch Warren resident Simon Preedy, of Cyprus Road, said he was disappointed with the format of the meeting.

He said: "Residents feel they haven't been heard. What a fiasco!"

Cycling campaigner Heather Rainbow, of Buckland Avenue, South Ham, who also attended the meeting, said: "We already have an environment strategy for transport in Basingstoke so, therefore, I was not clear how it fitted in with that. In terms of how it was advertised, it could have been organised better, but I'm pleased I had an opportunity to speak."

County council press officer Mary Stone admitted that information to the public should have been clearer. She added: "The people who did attend this meeting did have the chance to ask their questions, which were answered. In future, HAT meetings may be the same, and be open to the public to listen, or they may be open for questions. We will endeavour to make it clear what type of meetings they will be."

Councillor Keith Chapman, who represents Calleva and Kingsclere on the borough council and is also Cabinet member for culture and communities at county level, said: "There seems to have been some confusion, but there was no deliberate intention to disenfranchise the public from the meeting."

Several traffic concerns in the borough, including the need for pedestrian crossings on the A33, Chineham, and Heather Way in Kempshott, the proposed bus lane in Aldermaston Road and the need for cycle-friendly initiatives, were brought up by councillors and members of the public.