Jeremy Clarkson has applied to build a temporary car park at his farm after his original plans were blocked - amid council warnings over 'dangerous' parking nearby.
The new application requests permission to use a 60m by 32m area field adjacent to the TV star's farm shop as a car park until January 2025. He has already submitted an application for a permanent car park which has been blocked and he has appealed.
The new application from Diddly Squat farm has been submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council.
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'Application for planning permission for a temporary change of use of part of agricultural field measuring 60 metres by 32 metres to provide car parking for adjacent farm shop until 1st January 2025, including provision of temporary limestone chipping surface," a letter to planners says. 'Whilst there is an application for a permanent car park currently at appeal, the decision on that may be some time away.
''The proposal includes scraping back the topsoil to form a bund around the temporary parking area and the laying of a landscaping fabric and limestone chippings to form a temporary top surface, that is suitable for cars yet porous.''
It adds: '''Oxfordshire County Council has recently resolved to approve ‘No Waiting at Any Time’ restrictions at the A361 and Chipping Norton Road at Chadlington to be implemented at an appropriate time with the decision to implement delegated to the Director for Highway Operations in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management.
''This has coincided with the release of the second series of the Amazon TV show ‘Clarkson’s Farm’.
''As a result, there are anticipated to be significant numbers of visitors to the site when the shop re-opens-particularly during the Easter and Summer holidays in 2023 and into 2024 if a third series is released (it is currently being filmed).
''The applicants are able to provide parking on adjacent land for 28 days in any calendar year by virtue of their temporary use rights, however this unplanned ad hoc provision is not ideal because: It is reactionary and only provided once it is identified that there is an issue with waiting or parking on the highway [and] in poorer weather can lead to debris tracking onto the highway.
''The ‘No Waiting at Any Time’ restriction extends a distance towards Chadlington but is likely to serve only to displace parking and result in significant numbers of pedestrians using the Chipping Norton Road to walk from a parked car to the Farm Shop site. There is as a result significant concern that the safety of users of the highway will be compromised in the short term – whilst demand is high.
''In our view the provision of double yellow lines may lead to complex and unhelpful manoeuvres by people not expecting such a feature in this area, such as about-turning in the road.''
It goes on: ''This application therefore proposes a temporary change of use of one area of land to the shop adjacent to facilitate safe and convenient parking to meet this short term demand. It would use the existing site access and allow parking away from the highway for about 70 cars in 4 rows with manoeuvring space in between.
''The area will be provided with a temporary hard surface to ensure debris is not tracked onto the highway. 'The appearance of the parking area would be fitting for the rural area and would not be overly formal, and clearly reversible.
''The area would be formed by stripping back the top 30 cms of soil (the cultivated horizon where there would be no archaeological interest) and the storage of the stripped soil in a simple bund along the southern and western boundaries of the area.
''This bund will both constrain the parking area and prevent its extension, but also allow quick and simple restoration of the area at the end of the temporary period. The bund will seed with wildflowers and will not be unattractive.
''The area would then be covered in a permeable landscape fabric and covered in limestone chippings.
''Those are to be sourced locally from within the land holding. At the end of the temporary period they can be simply removed in a fairly straightforward operation.
''As a temporary intervention, which is easily reversed, the impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be limited and simply reversed.''
The extension of parking at the site of the hit Amazon Prime TV show has previously been a point of controversy. West Oxfordshire District Council refusing a previous proposal as it would have been "visually intrusive".
The council also said it would have had a "harmful impact on the rural character, scenic beauty and tranquillity of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". However, the alternative parking situation has become "dangerous", as queues of people park up on the grass verge of the busy A361.
Oxfordshire County Council said in a tweet last week: "If you’re visiting Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm Shop in Chadlington from tomorrow, please park safely and considerately. Don’t park on the A361. It’s just too dangerous. And please avoid parking on the verges of the narrow Chipping Norton Road as it causes damage."
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