Jeremy Clarkson embroiled in ANOTHER planning row with local council amid plans to change Cotswolds pub
Jeremy Clarkson is facing yet another showdown with West Oxfordshire District Council over car park improvements at his Cotswolds pub, The Farmer’s Dog.
The TV presenter and columnist, has applied to retain works to “formalise” the staff car park and provide extra customer parking to handle the huge influx of visitors since he took over.
Several issues have been raised by consultees that could provide further headaches for the former Top Gear host, including concerns about traffic management, flooding risks, and even the direction of a swinging gate.
Clarkson’s planning application is currently under consideration by West Oxfordshire District Council despite it already being at capacity for 170 cars. It previously came under scrutiny due to its proximity to a historic grave.
Local pressure has mounted amid concerns that a neighbouring 1,400-year-old burial mound containing the remains of an Anglo-Saxon warlord could be damaged by increasing visitor numbers.
The former Top Gear presenter reportedly spent £1 million to take charge of the pub, which is located close to his base featured in the popular Clarkson’s Farm TV show.
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Oxfordshire County Council said it raised no objection but warned that if the district council deemed the car parking “not to be an established lawful use,” an additional planning application would be required.
Officials also specified that the access gate should “open inwards within the property as opposed to outwards to reduce any potential conflict within the public highway.”
Additionally, the council stipulated that a minimum 2.4m x 43m “visibility splay” at the vehicle exit of the eastern car park should be maintained and kept free from obstructions.
The issue of flooding was also raised by the county council as a potential concern, as a spokesperson previously said: “Should there be an increase of impermeable area a drainage strategy and flood risk assessment needs to be provided.”
Clarkson’s planning agent noted that general permitted development order legislation allows the provision of up to 50 square metres of new hard surface within the site.
The agent explained that the actual area of hard surface provided in the western staff car park is 115 square metres and in the eastern customer car park is 290 square metres.
Clarkson’s planning agent emphasised that permission to park at the site already exists and said:” This application seeks to retain two areas of surfacing that have been provided within the site.
“Both areas are within the area within which the existing planning permission extends and the act of parking cars itself is not one which requires permission.”
The agent clarified that the application “does not seek permission to park vehicles in these locations on the site – as permission already exists for the activity.”
This is not Clarkson’s first clash with local authorities. He has previously faced planning battles over car parking and a proposed restaurant at his nearby Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds.
The new showdown comes as Clarkson prepares for an expected boost in customers with the release of the new series of Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm this spring.
The series is understood to heavily feature the opening of the pub, with his agent urging planners to “approve the application without delay to allow the much-needed facilities to be provided as soon as possible.”