Neighbours to Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm have expressed relief after he reportedly told the council he no longer plans to open a restaurant there. The former Top Gear presented claims he has been 'thwarted' by an enforcement notice in his bid to open up on eatery on site.
He was ordered by West Oxfordshire District Council to shut a pizza café he had been running at his Chadlington farm shop. Officials claimed it breached planning laws and was having a 'significant impact' on the community.
The farm, which starred in Amazon hit series Clarkson’s Farm, has been criticised by some villagers concerned about an influx of visitors parking on verges. Council officers issued an enforcement notice ordering him to remove ‘dining-related materials’ at the farm, although the TV star announced he would appeal the order.
But now, the broadcaster is reported to have admitted defeat - leaving some neighbours delighted. One said: "It is about time the council stood up to Jeremy Clarkson and his behaviour. For too long he has thought he can get away with whatever he wants without any consequences."
Another said: "Rich and entitled. He has to follow the rules like everyone else and grizzles about not being treated differently."
Clarkson has reportedly wrote in a letter to WODC: “I no longer wish to open a restaurant”. He also claimed he had been ‘thwarted by the enforcement notice’, it was reported.
The 62-year-old had originally filed an application to create a 50 cover restaurant, featuring a kitchen, ‘servery area and an internal seating area’ inside a lambing shed at his Diddly Squat Farm in September 2021 but was refused. Then, last year, the TV star wrote in a newspaper column he had discovered a ‘delightful little loophole’ enabling him to open a pizza café.
He found another barn for his venture and notified the council of the restaurant opening. An enforcement notice was issued in the autumn. WODC said it had tried to work with Diddly Squat Farm’s owner and agents for ‘many months’, investigating alleged ‘planning control’ breaches and advising ‘how the business can be operated in a lawful way’.
Under the terms of the enforcement notice, Clarkson was told to remove mobile toilets, tables that would be used by diners and other dining-related materials within six weeks of the notice being issued. Diddly Squat Farm was also told to stop selling products that do not come from the farm or that are not produced within 16 miles.
The council claimed the ‘nature, scale [and] siting is unsustainable and incompatible with its countryside location within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. Lawyers for Diddly Squat appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, arguing that the notice should be quashed as a map served by the council was inaccurate.
The allegation that the farm changes breached planning laws was denied. Remedial works ordered by the council would seriously affect the business and its employees, it was claimed. The farm shop closed on New Year’s Eve and is due to reopen in early February.
West Oxfordshire District Council said that advice to Clarkson had been 'ignored' and that the business continued to operate "outside of planning permission."
His continued defiance angered his neighbours in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, who said he thinks he's above the law. Locals said he continued to cause difficulty in the village and said he has 'no respect' for his neighbours.
One woman whose home sits just at the entrance to the village said the main issue continues to be 'idiots' driving through the village at high speed. Angela Smith, 60, said: "I've been here for 50 odd years. I just know that on days he's open I don't drive down that road.
"I should imagine having the café closed will help, because I think they go up there and come back through the village. I've never been up there myself, but I drove past a few times when they first opened and saw all the idiots queuing up in front of the gate.
"I just thought, if they've stood in that queue for that long they had better buy something at least when they get there. I know somebody along here who did say that Clarkson gives away free lunches to people in the village which she raved about, but I don't know if that is just for the local villagers or what."
Another local resident says that she doesn't dislike Mr Clarkson himself, but just 'what he has done to the village'. Mary Anderson, 51, added: "He's turned this small road into a main road. I don't know if things will be better now; the shop caused enough problems from people trying to sightsee.
"Just getting into Chipping Norton has become just mental. People stand around in the road and drivers go unnecessarily fast.
"Okay, if the infrastructure had been put in place to accommodate it - like parking and wider roads, that would not be so bad. But it's just become such a tourist attraction.
"Having worked on a farm for many years a long time ago, it kind of doesn't sit very well that he's playing a farmer and, in my opinion, taking the mickey out of the farming community. Jeremy does what Jeremy wants. He makes money wherever he can, and he just seems to fly by the seat of his pants.
"People tell him no, but he just finds his own way to do things. He might live in Chadlington, but he doesn't really live here."
Howard Stuart, a mechanic who lives within sight of Clarkson's house, added: "To be fair it doesn't really fuss me that much. It doesn't affect me what he does really, but he should have consulted the local people a bit more.
"He's only gone about all this the wrong way, and he could have done it a lot better."
The council described it as "unlawful" use of the farmland, adding that its "nature, scale [and] siting is unsustainable and incompatible with its countryside location within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty".
Representatives of Diddly Squat had earlier denied the farm changes breached planning laws, arguing that the work required by the council would seriously affect the business and its employees. It also said that a map served by the council was wrong and that the notice "should be quashed in its entirety as a result".
The former Top Gear presenter previously reported finding a "delightful little loophole" when he opened the restaurant in the summer. He said he had found another barn and notified WODC of the restaurant opening.
At the time, the council said that it was looking to ensure the venue was "compliant with local and national planning law". Speaking previously, a West Oxfordshire District Council spokesperson said: “Council officers have worked with the owner and planning agents of the business, over many months, to investigate breaches in planning control, advising on how the business can be operated in a lawful way and trying to reach a solution.
“The business continues to operate outside the planning permissions granted and advice has been ignored. The activity has also had a significant impact on the local community."
