THE county's congestion problems and possible solutions were debated at a conference for Hampshire businesses and decision-makers.

Held at The Anvil in Basingstoke, the event, which included workshops and guest speakers, was hosted by Nick Farthing, chairman of the Hampshire Economic Partnership's (HEP) transport and logistics task group.

Mr Farthing said: "The conference was an unequalled success. Our speakers reinforced how important an issue road congestion is to businesses and how they have to think smarter to remain competitive.

"The feedback from the workshops will be consolidated and will become the priorities for our task group for the next 12 to 18 months.

"What really came through during this seminar is that there isn't a magic fix or a bottomless pit of money. We have to work with the tools we have and make them more efficient."

During the conference, entitled Driving Out Congestion, Mr Farthing complained that decision makers leave transport lower down their order of importance.

"I know we all have a shopping list of requirements that would ease our daily travel burden - wider motorways, bypasses, additional trains, cheaper bus fares, cycle lanes, and so on - but as we all know, our fairy godmother, the Government, has no magic wand to make our dreams come true.

"Not only do we have to fight for every piece of new infrastructure, we also have to work very hard to maintain what we have got."

He spoke about changes to the cross-country rail franchise announced by the Government, and said: "Despite public consultation and comments from businesses, politicians, and user groups, the Department for Transport insists on curtailing all through-trains from this area to north of Manchester, with no services to the North East, North West or Scotland, after December 2007.

"Furthermore, there will be no direct trains from Reading, Basingstoke and Winchester to Havant and Brighton from next year, purely to save money on rolling stock.

"These rail routes mirror motorway corridors. I wonder whether the Government would close the outer lanes, just to save money."

Mr Farthing added that businesses also have to contend with a possible climate change bill and road pricing as well as the South East Plan, which will add even more infrastructure.

Nicky Linihan-Mardon, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's head of planning and transport, used the town as a case study in one of the workshops.

Following the session, she reported a general consensus that it does not suffer from the same congestion problems as some other areas, although it was recognised that there are some hot spots.

Mrs Linihan-Mardon said the group felt more information was required to understand the current and possible future transport and other trends in the borough, so that the right issues and solutions could be focused on.

She added: "We need a long-term strategy that recognises the specific needs of the borough, in order to develop a bespoke approach across all forms of transport, so that it retains and enhances its attractiveness as an employment and cultural centre, and a place where people want to live and shop.

"This will take resources, time and some of the solutions won't be cheap.

"It is important that HEP, the borough council and other partners work together to develop the strategy and make a strong case for funding."