'They'd mind if I was constantly in Birmingham as a tourist' - coach firms stop visits to Cotswolds village
Coach operators have stopped visits to a popular Cotswolds village due to new parking plans they consider unsafe. The changes have sparked local debate and worries about turning the village into a 'ghost town.'
Coach operators say they will no longer visit a Cotswolds village - as parking plans have made it 'unsafe.'
Officials in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire want to tackle ongoing issues involving the huge number of vehicles bringing visitors in for the day.
Figures show in one year alone 238,000 people visited the 'Venice Of The Cotswold' by coach or large minibus.
Residents say they can't park as there are too many buses but businesses say a bus ban would hit trade and and turn the picture postcard village into a "ghost-town".
A new temporary solution for a 'drop off' point has been backed by officials.
But some coach companies fear the Meadow Way location is "not safe" and is too far to walk to the village centre.
One firm - Middleton Tours - who regularly carried out visits to the village has been forced to rethink its plans due to concerns over the trial and a recent incident where a resident shouted at one of its tour guides and passengers.
Tour manager Richard Smith told the BBC: "The site that they have chosen is right at the junction so it's not safe.
"There is no shelter and no signage. There is apparently the provision for three coaches. Anybody that knows Bourton-on-the-Water, particularly during the main season, knows how busy it can get.
"It's ill-thought-through and could be prone to operational disasters. Until there is a solution that works for the customer and coach operators, we have made the decision not to return to Bourton-on-the-Water."
The parish council voted to back a proposal designed to address the shortage of parking facilities following the closure of a privately-owned site in 2023.
Under the scheme coaches would pick up and drop off passengers in a designated on-street parking bay on Meadow Way.
Buses would then leave Meadow Way after ten minutes and head to an industrial estate where parking will be available.
Locals previously blasted the proposed solution as 'ill-thought out.
Ron Wellard, 77, retired fitter who has lived in Bourton for 50 years said: “Everyone agrees that it’s a stupid idea, putting it next to an old people’s home.
“The old Co-op would have been better. I can’t imagine people living next to the coach parking lane right next door won’t be too happy about it, like the people living next door to the old coach park.
“But that’s people for you, they buy a house next to a coach park and then moan about the coaches coming past.
“You can come here in the summer, it’s heaving with tourists, then after seven o’clock at night it’s a ghost town. But they don’t live here you see.
“It’s like living at the seaside, you never go to the sea if you live at the coast – it’s tourists.
''I want the tourists to come of course, I’m very much live and let live, but they’d mind if I was constantly in Birmingham as a tourist.”
Kieron Smith, 72, a former Cotswolds stone tiler by trade who has lived opposite the care home for 12 years, said : “It’s the fumes. I’m not worried if they park there, but they don’t turn the engines off.
''All the people that live here, we don’t mind if they park there and drop off and clear off straight away, but we don’t want them stopping there with the engines running. It’s not fair on us when we’re sitting in our gardens.
“They’re going to come here, drop everyone off, clear off up to where they park, and come back to pick people up. But the councillors don’t live here do they?
''They’re not worried about it, they don’t live here, they live in the village. They don’t have to sit in the gardens having the fumes come over. It’s different for them. If you’re directly involved then it’s not very good.
“You’re probably going to be held up for five or ten minutes getting out because it’ll be gridlock.
“The emergency services are here quite often with the blue lights going into the old people’s home and they’re going to be held up.
“Why can’t they make the tourists walk the extra short distance so that they’re not outside the care home? If they love the village so much, it’s only a short distance to the back of the village.”
Gloucestershire County Council insists the walk is "short", saying feedback will be "welcome" during the trial as it will be able to "make changes".
The six-month trial is set to begin around Easter and will allow coaches to stop at Meadow Way for 10 minutes to drop off and pick up passengers.
Parking will then be available at the Pulhams Coaches site between 9am and 4pm each day.
Gloucestershire County Council said the trial will give coaches a "dedicated area" to drop off and pick up customers which is a "short walk" from the centre of the village.
"The parish council would welcome feedback on the scheme from residents, visitors and coach operators," they added.
"The county council will be able to make changes to the scheme during the trial to ensure the best possible results."