A TIDAL wave of criticism washed over Winchester civic chiefs at the first council meeting after the damning Lloyd-Jones report and the dismissal of Silver Hill co-developer THRE.

Around 100 members of the public crammed into a room in the Guildhall last night to give their views.

Speaker after speaker slammed the city council for its mishandling of the £150m Silver Hill development.

Independent investigator Claer Lloyd-Jones said the council had no clear vision on Silver Hill, acted unlawfully over the procurement of the project, ignored legal advice that it was a risky venture and that officers and councillors were lacking in the skills for the project for shops and flats and a new bus station.

She has called for an overhaul of the way the council does things.

Last night the overview/scrutiny and audit committees questioned Ms Lloyd-Jones about her work.

The public were allowed to address the committee.

Patrick Davies, a former city councillor, criticised an overly secretive "reference group" of decision-making councillors and officers as the root cause of the problems. "The council needs to get back to meetings in public unless there are very good reasons not to hold them in public."

Mike Caldwell said: "The report is a very damning document. It is a document that must be acted upon. There must be an apology for the needless waste of thousands, and indeed and I quote the 'missing millions' of pounds of taxpayers' money."

Martin Wilson questioned other major council projects such as Station Approach, Chesil Street Extra Care and the Biffa Waste management contract.

He said: "What does the council intend to do in relation to the investigation of legitimate questions about impropriety or potential corruption as a result of this review?"

Karen Barratt said: "I don't want to get into accusations of corruption. There is a more insidious problem, it's a cosiness that develops, an arrogance where anybody outside members and officers is somehow not worth listening to."

Rebel councillor Kim Gottlieb whose successful judicial review started to derail the project last year, said: "We need a complete overhaul of how the council manages development projects, all development projects, in which is has an interest."

Council leader Stephen Godfrey and chief executive Simon Eden have criticised Miss Lloyd-Jones for aspects of her report, saying some aspects were unsubstantiated.

She said last night: "I stand by my report. I emphatically reject the suggestion that my report is unbalanced."

Cllr Brian Laming said: "I am greatly dismayed that the CEO and the leader have been so quick to dismiss the report in the press. It gives the impression rightly or wrongly of a cover up. This is not acceptable."

He said the Cabinet-style system was not working and suggested a return to the old committee system as more open.

Tory councillors on the overview and scrutiny committee rejected adopting the Lloyd-Jones report, preferring to note it. Lib Dem councillor Martin Tod called that an "outrage, it's a disgrace."

Senior Tory Patricia Stallard said the report needed to be more carefully considered. "The Conservatives have neither rejected nor accepted it. I'm sure every member would not want hasty decisions to be made."

But an audit committee also held last night got cross party support to accept the report.

The cabinet, which takes executive decisions, next meets on Thursday February 18.