PROPOSALS to move football pitches has caused concern for a club’s chairman, saying it feels ‘forced out’ by the community.

Hatch Warren Phoenix, one of the fastest growing youth clubs in the borough, has become the target of parking complaints on match days.

The club, which has grown from three teams to seventeen in five years, uses the facilities next to the Hatch Warren Community Centre, in Long Cross Lane.

However, residents have made a number of complaints about the parking around the centre when the club has a match.

A solution put forward is the removal of smaller pitches, known as 5v5, at Hatch Warren to go to War Memorial Park, but the club believes this would lead to more traffic on the roads as youngsters try to get to and from pitches closer to the town centre.

Chairman of the club Daren Bavister said: “The proposed removal of the 5v5 pitches would mean those participating in the younger years having to create additional unnecessary traffic to and from pitches in the centre of what is already a very busy and congested Basingstoke.

“This may also affect the ability for us to continue with certain age groups as coaches will often start sessions at 9am and then remain until midday offering sessions for more than one age and being spread across the town we will have to reduce capacity.”

However, the land off Long Cross Lane is used by four other teams and they have had no such issues with the change.

Cabinet member for communities and community safety at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Councillor Simon Bound said: “We are very pleased that both the football pitches and the community centre are so well used but in a situation where parking becomes an issue for both residents and users of these facilities we need to balance the needs of all concerned. There needs to be compromise made by everyone.”