Bourton-on-the-Water’s residents say daytrippers are turning the village into ‘Blackpool-on-the-Water’, and they want coach bans, parking permits and tourist charges to bring the crowds under control.
Their complaints divided Independent readers. Many rallied behind the residents, some drawing up detailed proposals of their own for parking levies and river tolls.
Just as many, however, turned the argument back on Bourton, arguing that a village built on tourist marketing cannot complain when tourists arrive, and that many of today’s ‘residents’ are wealthy incomers who priced out the locals long before any tourist did.
Others pointed further afield, to Dedham, Cornwall, a Scottish island and even Japan’s Mount Fuji, framing Bourton as one flashpoint in a much wider reckoning over mass tourism.
Here’s what you had to say:
Bourton can’t have it both ways
I have been to Bourton many times over the years and stopped going because of the overcrowding. I can understand how the residents feel but the village has been promoted as a tourist attraction for many years and visitors encouraged to go there. They can’t have it both ways. I live in a city and where I live has also changed enormously – much more traffic and house building. Such change is a fact of life and the people of Bourton cannot expect to be exempt, especially when the problem is, to a degree, self-inflicted.
Charge for the riverside
Just make all street parking residents only. Ban coaches. And capitalise on the use of riverside space for picnics by charging £5 per person. You could go further and make official parking prohibitively expensive (say £10/hr) unless spending in local businesses, who could have ANPR-linked terminals that trigger free or reduced parking upon entry of a valid registration plate.
Sick of wealthy people demanding exclusive access
Sorry, if you choose, and can afford, to live in one of the most beautiful villages in the country then you must expect a lot of tourists. What do these privileged residents want – government intervention to protect their peaceful lifestyle from interference by the common herd? If they don’t like it they can move, like anyone else who doesn’t like where they live. With prices in that village, they’ll have choices if they sell up. It’s no different to people who buy a house next to a long-established pub then complain about the noise. I’m sick of wealthy, privileged people complaining that they need exclusive access to everything that is good.
Ban the coaches, accept fewer tourist jobs
I’m not sure why people go to Bourton in peak season. The whole point of the place is the ambience of its quaint, bygone rural setting, which completely disappears when the tourist horde arrives. Lazy tourism by car, and even lazier flogging of coach seats by tour organisers. Ban the coaches and hike up the car parking charges for non-residents and, as someone has suggested, link car park charges to local spend. In exchange, the locals will have to accept fewer tourist businesses and jobs.
Dedham has the same problem
This kind of infestation is a problem in Dedham (Constable Country) too. As the parish magazine puts it: “The large number of visitors to the river area resulted in major problems in terms of illegal parking, anti-social behaviour and abuse of the local environment… A teenager who jumped off the bridge was badly injured. Ambulances found it very difficult to get through the village in an emergency.” Paddleboards clogging the Stour also seriously impede the small business that ferries visitors between Flatford and Dedham. It would be interesting to see an investigation into how and why this is happening, at Dedham, Bourton and doubtless many other venues.
Why is Bourton the domain of the rich?
Sheer unadulterated snobbery. Firstly, what is wrong with Blackpool? It’s a brilliant destination suitable for all families, especially if you’re on a limited budget. Secondly, how many of the ‘residents’ in Bourton are genuine locals? Many of them are rich newcomers who buy up the expensive, picturesque cottages, forcing young people and locals out of the area – and then have the audacity to complain about the crowds spoiling their personal space. I’ve been visiting Bourton since I was a child, and yes, it has become more crowded in recent years, but why should the beautiful places in Britain become the domain of the rich?
Charge £20 a day for parking, £5 to reach the river
Make all the car parks paid for, with a minimum £20 per day for visitors and £200 for coaches. Issue steep parking fines to anyone parking anywhere but a car park. Close and fence the banks of the river and allow entry only on a £5pp per day fee. If outsiders are treating the place like a theme park, make them pay for entry. Use the money to do repairs, clear up litter, and support the local pubs and shops that lose out because of the hordes.
It isn’t your village, it’s everyone’s
It must be a nightmare, and ‘without contributing to the local economy’ must be particularly galling. However, it isn’t your village, it’s everyone’s village. As a resident it must get on your nerves, but it isn’t yours in the sense of ownership. A woman I worked with transferred from London, got a house near the beach and was furious about ‘townies coming in their droves with their awful kids’. To her, buying the house entitled her to a say on the comings and goings. Some locals felt the same way; others were furious she’d bought the house at all – ‘it should go to locals’. Are we becoming insular, or has it always been this way?
Too many cars, not enough public transport
Too many people with too many cars and relatively cheap motoring costs – that’s why places like Bourton-on-the-Water are so crowded. In a crowded country like England, it has to be controlled somehow, or we will all face gridlock one day, not to mention the pollution. Time to put public transport before private car ownership, but self-entitlement rules, so that won’t happen.
Our Scottish island has it just as bad
Crikey! I thought we had it bad. Our small West Coast Scottish island gets choked up each summer with motorhomes stocked with food and booze from their local Aldi, not our local shop or pub – plus caravans, and those who think it’s OK to dump their rubbish on our pier and empty their chemical loos on the shoreline. And we only have two single-track roads. But you guys have got it bad, seriously bad – more like an infestation.
Bourton can’t survive on residents alone
How many businesses are there in Bourton designed to entice tourists? How many cafes and bistros survive on tourists’ money? I sympathise with residents, but it’s been an attraction to tourists and new residents for years. As Beatnik says, they can’t have it both ways.
Edinburgh already has a tourist tax
Edinburgh has introduced a tourist tax, but only paid so far by people using accommodation. Short of erecting toll booths and charging cars and people on foot entry fees, I’m not sure there is a solution. Not a place I would want to live.
Britain always gets this wrong
The basic problem is how the authorities and residents choose to respond. They can view it as a wonderful opportunity to provide facilities such as hotels and restaurants that visitors can use – or they can view visitors as a problem to be regulated and restricted. It’s interesting to compare how other countries face similar situations. As always, the British solution gets it very wrong.
Let the council take a cut, not just business owners
Ideally the local council would add a substantial percentage to all bills and parking, to extract the value for the village inhabitants rather than leave it all to business owners. That would upset business owners, especially those who purchased their premises at premium prices.
This is a worldwide problem, not just the Cotswolds
The increase in scale of tourism is a problem in many places, not just the Cotswolds – and it isn’t just a matter of numbers. The rise of the influencer and the obsession with getting the ultimate scenic image for one’s Instagram feed, while oblivious to the local population or even the threat of injury from traffic, is a problem worldwide – Japan has closed certain areas near Mount Fuji for precisely this reason. There’s also a level of disinhibition leading to some very odd behaviour – everything from mass littering to abusing locals for going about their lives, and even invading houses to take photos (the villagers on Holy Island are up in arms about the latter two). There’s a perfect storm triggered by social media, and the lasting impact of lockdown, after which many seemed to have forgotten basic norms of social behaviour.
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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