Coach Parking - a contentious issue?

[wirewiper]

One problem facing the coaching industry, as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, is the provision of drop-off-pickup points and coach parking for visitors, especially in tourist hotspots. 

This has come to a head at Bourton-in-the-Water, where the only coach park is being closed after 31st December, without replacement. Local coach operators have expressed their disappointment, saying that coach visitors contribute around £2 million a year to the local economy and that people who use coach tours are effectively being told they are no longer welcome. They are also making the point that coach travel is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of travel. The situation has been exacerbated by recent comments from the Leader of Cotswold District Council, who seemed to question the value of coach-based tourism to the village. 

Similar problems are being faced in Edinburgh, where the official coach drop-off point is often full of cars and drivers have to find an alternative location to drop off and pick up their passengers; and in Tunbridge Wells, where a coach park was converted into a car park some years ago and buses and coaches have to compete for the remaining available space. 


www.route-one.net/news/operators-call-for-better-coach-parking-at-key-sites/

www.route-one.net/news/bourton-parking-council-leader-questions-coaches-value/

[Eastlondoner62]

I would imagine the bigger question is how much money can be made by replacing the coach parking with something else? Car parks probably bring in money and users are free to do what they like when they like to then take their car and leave.

I think this excessive impact on environmentalism needs to stop, the way it's been stuffed down people's throats with no actual solutions to it now means the vast majority of people don't care about environmental impacts. Cars are probably on the road to becoming more environmentally friendly than coaches are with all the increases in regulations surrounding them.

[wirewiper]

Dec 26, 2023 14:47:19 GMT Eastlondoner62 said:

I would imagine the bigger question is how much money can be made by replacing the coach parking with something else? Car parks probably bring in money and users are free to do what they like when they like to then take their car and leave.

I think this excessive impact on environmentalism needs to stop, the way it's been stuffed down people's throats with no actual solutions to it now means the vast majority of people don't care about environmental impacts. Cars are probably on the road to becoming more environmentally friendly than coaches are with all the increases in regulations surrounding them.

People do care about environmental impacts, recent surveys by YouGov and the Office of National Statistics show a majority of UK adults to be concerned about climate change, and who believe that it is largely the result of human activity. Women and more likely to be concerned than men, and younger people more than older. Successive UK Governments have recognised the threats and have set targets for the UK to become carbon-neutral, although there is a lack of clarity about how we are actually going to get there.  

Unfortunately the voices of climate change deniers or sceptics are disproportionately loud, and they have exploited this lack of clarity to suggest that there are no solutions. This has led many into a state of 'Climate despair', a belief that it is too late to do anything to slow climate change, and there is nothing individuals can do or change that will make a difference. Neither is true. 

[Eastlondoner62]

Dec 26, 2023 18:05:47 GMT wirewiper said:

Dec 26, 2023 14:47:19 GMT Eastlondoner62 said:

I would imagine the bigger question is how much money can be made by replacing the coach parking with something else? Car parks probably bring in money and users are free to do what they like when they like to then take their car and leave.

I think this excessive impact on environmentalism needs to stop, the way it's been stuffed down people's throats with no actual solutions to it now means the vast majority of people don't care about environmental impacts. Cars are probably on the road to becoming more environmentally friendly than coaches are with all the increases in regulations surrounding them.

People do care about environmental impacts, recent surveys by YouGov and the Office of National Statistics show a majority of UK adults to be concerned about climate change, and who believe that it is largely the result of human activity. Women and more likely to be concerned than men, and younger people more than older. Successive UK Governments have recognised the threats and have set targets for the UK to become carbon-neutral, although there is a lack of clarity about how we are actually going to get there.  

Unfortunately the voices of climate change deniers or sceptics are disproportionately loud, and they have exploited this lack of clarity to suggest that there are no solutions. This has led many into a state of 'Climate despair', a belief that it is too late to do anything to slow climate change, and there is nothing individuals can do or change that will make a difference. Neither is true. 

Being concerned about climate change doesn't mean that people are happy to change their practices or be forced to do so. I think most people would prefer convenience over environmental impacts. The Climate protestors are also a very vocal minority, I'm sure for the vast majority of people they just want to do what they want to do in the most convenient way possible, if the most convenient way is environmentally friendly then all good, however I doubt many people will go through inconvenience.