Following the recent closure of its privately-owned coach park, the Cotswold town of Bourton-on-the-Water, a popular destination for coach tours, is considering banning coaches from its streets despite warnings that it will drive away tourists by implementing traffic restrictions to prevent coach access.
According to reports in The Telegraph, parish councillors want to tackle ongoing issues, including a lack of parking in what is one of the area’s most popular destinations. The newspaper reports that around 238,000 people visit the village by coach or large minibus every year, and that business owners have warned that banning coaches will damage their trade. Pub owner Andrew Lund-Yates said his pub and hotel could lose 10% of its revenue if the plan to ban coaches became reality. “The council is interested in getting tourists out of Bourton, which is frustrating for businesses that have built their business looking after tourists,” he said. “Tourists are the highest spending visitors we have. My plan was built on coaches. Other businesses have limited options, the restrictions could mean the difference between them staying open and them closing. If the winter travel stops, smaller businesses might shut. We don’t want to look like a seasonal seaside village. There is a lot of worry.”
The plan, which is still subject to public consultation, could ban coach access from the A429 into Lansdowne as well as the High Street and Station Road, which would mean a walk of up to 30 minutes from the approved drop-off point to the town centre; until it closed in December following changes to the agreement between the local council and the site owner, coaches were able to drop off passengers at a car park just outside the town centre. A newly-refurbished car park on the opposite side of the town was mooted as a potential alternative, but the site’s refurbishment did not include the addition of coach spaces, meaning that drivers are having to use unofficial on-street drop-off points.
Pulhams Coaches has been based in the village since 1880. Andy Pulham told the Telegraph: “Nobody would be able to come into the area. What’s disappointing is that by banning coaches we are taking away the option – from low-income people, elderly people – of going out on trips.
“What we are saying is you can’t enjoy Bourton unless you have a car. Overseas visitors want to come here. Elderly people live for those trips.”
