Doesn't seem too big a deal IMHO. New Alresford is the biggest yellow bit (apart from Winchester) on the half mil in the general direction Andy was going. Assuming he was going to trot over Basingstoke and Reading it seems an obvious place to report and almost coincides with the Solent zone boundary. (they usually like to get rid, as soon as you are off their patch).
I often report to Farnborough "places" like Haslemere or Petersfield and as I am obviously VFR with a map it seems to be the obvious thing to do. (there aren't any VRPs other than Guildford about anyway !!!)
Solent have asked me to report Ryde Pier in sight and Gloucester "The Racecourse", none of which are real VRPs.
I guess this sort of logic is fine with a map, as VRPs are pretty sparse anywhere except around zones and then some VRPs are hard to find and probably placed because they neded a point x miles NW of Y or summat.
(As a Luton trained and bred Cherokee driver, Pirton was always the most devlish place to find - mostly found because I knew how to get there rather than because I could see it.)
This sounds more like a triumph of English over Strine than any real issue about the validity of using a town rather than a VRP as a reporting point.
