Jeremy Clarkson has won a partial victory in his ongoing war with planners over his Cotswold Farm, ‘Diddly Squat’.
The farm was made famous by the show Clarkson’s Farm, which led to vast numbers of visitors to the area.
The TV personality originally purchased the property in 2008. It was originally called Curdle Hill Farm and spans around a thousand acres, and was previously run by a local villager until his retirement in 2019. At that time, Mr Clarkson decided to take on its responsibility himself.
The farm was renamed Diddly Squat to indicate its lack of productivity, “diddly squat” meaning something that doesn’t amount to much or anything at all. He planned to adapt the land to “mixed agricultural and leisure attraction use, comprising a cafe, restaurant, gift or farm shop, parking and lavatory facilities.”
The planning inspector did not accept this description in his report and said that the farm could not be considered a “leisure attraction” as no entrance fee was charged and therefore it was not comparable to “say, a Wildlife Park or miniature railway”.
Mr Clarkson’s problems began when he opened a farm shop at the property. Interest in Mr Clarkson was such that a huge influx of vehicles descended on the rural roads, causing severe parking issues as well as disruption in the area around Chadlington.
Villagers described the farm as a ‘total menace’ and a ‘danger’ and the planning inspector suggested that the farm had been ‘a victim of its own success’.
To address the parking problems, Mr Clarkson applied for an extension to the car park. However, West Oxfordshire District Council initially denied Clarkson’s request.
Following an appeal and several months of contention, the council recognised the inconvenience to those living nearby due to the lack of parking. As a consequence, Jeremy Clarkson has been allowed a partial victory enabling him to add extra parking spaces to accommodate the large number of visitors to help alleviate the problem of cars parked on the roadside. The permission will last for three years, after which the site must be restored.
The decision is a relief to Mr Clarkson and local residents alike.
However, the council’s rejection of the addition of a restaurant at the farm shop still stands, and it has expressed concerns that a restaurant would negatively impact the protected rural landscape surrounding the farm.
Despite the setback over the restaurant, Mr Clarkson has used a legal loophole to continue with his plans and it opened in July 2022. In response, the council issued an enforcement notice the following month, demanding the restaurant’s closure due to complaints from residents about the traffic and the restaurant’s incompatibility with the farm’s countryside location.
While Clarkson celebrates the permitted parking extension, he must still resolve the issue surrounding the restaurant’s operation.