Coach traffic and parking will be among a review of travel arrangements in Bourton-on-the-Water to be carried out by Gloucestershire County Council (GCC).
Parking for all vehicles along with pedestrian movements are within the task, which GCC as highways authority says will look to better balance needs of residents, businesses, visitors and commuters. Options to improve safety, access and movement will also be explored.
GCC adds how it recognises longstanding concerns about the effect of coach traffic on movement around the Cotswold village, and that understanding all viewpoints “will help to shape fair and workable solutions.”
An engagement exercise will launch in July for residents, businesses and visitors. It is currently at the feasibility stage, with GCC gathering information on parking use, vehicle movements (including coaches), and pedestrian traffic.
At present, a temporary coach drop-off and pick-up arrangement on Meadow Way is in place. It works under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO). Coaches may stop there briefly before or after moving to or from off-site parking. GCC says it is “being monitored to help inform longer-term solutions.”
Draft minutes of a Bourton-on-the-Water Parish Council Extraordinary Meeting on 3 June note that parties in the village were “desperate” to find a solution for coach parking prior to the ETRO trial, which the papers describe as having proved unsatisfactory to residents.
GCC Councillor Paul Hodgkinson informed the gathering that while he had been told coach drivers would observe requirements of the ETRO, adherence has been mixed. The Parish Council subsequently carried a motion that the Order is not working and should end.
It previously called for a second ETRO with further restrictions on coach movements in Bourton, but the 3 June draft minutes note GCC’s position as being that what was sought there “would not be feasible or enforceable.”
Residents close to the area “had been in regular contact with [Cllr Hodgkinson] and were very unhappy with the trial,” the draft minutes add, although the pro-coach Bourton Business Network (BBN) had written to him to say it was pleased with the exercise’s progress.
Items raised by Bourton residents at the 3 June meeting alleged some having been sworn at by coach drivers and that a lack of sanctions for non-adherence to the ETRO had made some brazen about ignoring it. One resident is noted as having made 300 complaints to GCC about the matter, including reference to assault.
However, an email from BBN Chairman Allan Hymers to the Parish Council dated 1 June notes how enforcement of the ETRO began in November 2025. He adds that during its early stages, many coach operators were unaware of the Order’s requirements.
That was addressed by multiple stakeholders. Mr Hymers states how “a very positive shift” resulted, with usage of the drop-off and pick-up bay improving considerably, and “more and more operators now following the agreed process.” The Network wants the ETRO trial to continue across the summer months.
“Making changes now would risk undoing the good progress already made, creating further unnecessary confusion for [coach] operators and visitors, and potentially leading to greater disruption and congestion across the village,” Mr Hymers adds.
The 3 June meeting heard from a GCC Area Highway Manager that long-term plans call for a working group to continue to seek a solution to accommodating coaches in Bourton, with efforts involving consultants on a Visitor Traffic Management Strategy expected to assist.
Speaking about the pending GCC review of arrangements in Bourton, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport and Road Safety Cllr Roger Whyborn acknowledges that the village has “complex challenges” of high visitors numbers coupled to residents’ needs.
“This work is about listening carefully to those experiences so we can find practical, balanced ways to improve how people get around the village. I would encourage everyone to take park when the engagement launches,” he adds.
