Tourist buses to be banned in the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’

Coach parking facilities in a village known as the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’ will be removed from December this year – a move that could sink businesses, one resident says.

Bourton-on-the-Water has been a popular coach destination since the 1920s and currently has eight coach spaces at the privately owned Bourton Vale Car Park, instead of 19.

However, these bays will be converted to car-only slots, a move that Sarita Tapper, who runs a clothing store in beloved Bourton, warned could see local businesses fail.

Sarita, 54, who has been running Chestnuts Fashion Fix for 32 years, told MailOnline Travel: ‘Can businesses go out of business? Certainly. If the coaches quit, our revenue would drop by 50 percent. You would find the same with many other local businesses.

‘People who come by bus save, it’s a special day, spend money, use the facilities. While people who come by car do not necessarily spend money.

Sarita Tapper, pictured, who has run Chestnuts Fashion Fix in Bourton-on-the-Water for 32 years, says she depends on money spent by day trippers

“During the week we can be busy, but as soon as we have a miserable day it really gets quiet. Drivers don’t come out on a wet day. But buses come regardless of the weather because they are pre-booked.

“Coaches have been a lifeline for businesses and local jobs in Bourton-on-the-Water for over a century.”

Sarita explained that the company that owns Bourton Vale Car Park is converting it to just cars, claiming cars are more profitable.

The previous Conservative council paid the company a subsidy to ensure bus spaces remained open, but the current Liberal Democrat council has cut this funding.

Sarita is so furious with the Lib Dem council that she has banned the councilors from her shop.

She added, “The Lib Dems are doing nothing. We get no answers from them.

“We’re at our wits’ end.”

Sarita said: ‘Coaches have been a lifeline for businesses and local jobs in Bourton-on-the-Water and have been for over a century’

Chantelle Whitelegg, 31, who owns Chestnuts Tea Room and Once Upon a Candy Shop with her husband Joe, shares Sarita’s concerns.

She told the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard: ‘Without the carriages there are many boarded up shops and cafes.’

Local Conservative councilor Madan Samuel said one solution could be to convert a council car park on Rissington Road into spaces for buses.

He told MailOnline Travel: ‘This was the original coach car park but has been refurbished and is only open as a car park. Had this been opened as a refurbished “Coach Park” rather than a car park, the ongoing dilemma of where to house buses in Bourton Village would have been avoided. It’s ideal.

‘It is outside the village and there is an established footbridge into the village.’

He added: ‘Coaches are an environmentally friendly way to see the Cotswolds and [in Bourton] high-street businesses depend on the coaches to survive.

‘The Bourton Vale Car Park is a private car park. As with any private company, they are in the process of recouping post-lockdown losses. In December 2023 there will be no coach parking in the village of Bourton. The Cotswold District Council has had over two years to clean up this mess and nothing has been done about it.’

A spokesman for the Cotswold District Council said Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard“While it is entirely a private company’s decision to change their operations, since learning of their decision, the District Council has been proactively working with the local community and stakeholders, including representatives from the Bourton Business Network, to explore options for the future. to look at.

“We’ve looked into alternative locations and different arrangements, but so far none have been found that would be practical. This work will continue in the coming months as we explore all avenues.”