A row has erupted in a Cotswolds village over a proposed local authority plan to ban tourist coaches from the picturesque spot.
Bourton-on-the-Water, which lies between Oxford and Cheltenham, has a population of just over 3,000 – but receives upwards of 230,000 visitors by coach or bus every year.
The village’s parish council has taken steps to quell disruption caused by tourist coaches, including removing parking spaces for the vehicles, after reports of widespread congestion and disruptive driving and parking.
But following proposals for a Traffic Regulation Order – which would prohibit coaches from offloading passengers in the centre of the village, forcing them to walk half an hour in from outside – residents have voiced their concerns.
Locals have spoken out against the council's move, claiming it could put off coach day-trippers
Wikimedia Commons/Geograph
Some locals have spoken out against the move, claiming it could deter higher-spending coach day-trippers.
Andrew Lund-Yates, a 63-year-old hotelier and landlord, said: “The coach demographic tends to spend significantly more than the thousands of car passengers who come and sit on the river bank and don’t spend any money.
“We are very fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the UK and people want to come and see it.
“Who are we to say that they can’t? Just because they can’t get here by any other means, we don’t think that’s right,” he told the Times.
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Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the proposal "is bound to lead to closures"
UK Parliament/Geograph
Lund-Yates said the council said it saw the pandemic as an excuse to “reset the landscape and try and attract a better-spending customer” during a meeting between local businesses and council-run Cotswold Tourism.
John Kerslake, the co-owner of Fresh 4 Lunch, a café in Bourton-on-the-Water, said he thought any plans to ban coaches were “difficult to understand”.
He said: “Welcome to Bourton-on-the-Water, but only if you can come in a car and have loads of money.
“Please don't come if you are visiting from overseas on a coach tour. Please don't come if you're a pensioner on a coach trip visiting for an affordable day out,” he told the BBC.
Steve Whiteway, administrator and company secretary at the Guild of British Coach Operators, said: “It’s difficult to say but it’s probably one of the most popular places that coach parties go to in the UK, so it seems a very strange decision in that they’re turning away [coaches].
“Of course, the traders and retailers in Bourton itself are up in arms because they know that they rely very heavily on the numbers that are brought in.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, MP for the Cotswolds, said the proposal would lead to business closures and job losses in the village.
Sir Clifton-Brown said: “Businesses in the village are already under severe economic pressures and this proposal is bound to lead to closures affecting the high street and the subsequent loss of jobs.
“Consideration also needs to be given to the potential environmental effects of more cars and the overall threat to the vitality and vibrancy of the village.”
A meeting will take place on March 27 for Sir Clifton-Brown and officials from multiple councils to explore different solutions, while parish councillors will meet in April to decide on what measures to take – which will be subject to a public consultation.
