Jeremy Clarkson is locked in a bitter row with residents living near his Diddly Squat farm who are accusing him of trying to 'urbanise the countryside' with his latest plans to extend the car park at his shop.
The mega-mouth TV star wants to build a 60-space car park with a separate entrance and exit to try and cater for the huge number of visitors to his Cotswolds farm.
Some locals have praised the plans as a welcome measure to stop visitors parking on nearby roads and have accused opponents of being motivated by ‘jealousy’.
But others have slammed the former Top Gear presenter for trying to create ‘a major tourist attraction’ in a peaceful rural area, calling his shop an 'eyesore'.
His application was submitted after previous plans to convert his lambing shed into a 60-seat restaurant and to enlarge the car park were turned down by councillors in January.
Jeremy Clarkson is locked in a battle with neighbours over his plans to extend the car park at his farm shop in the Cotswolds
The former Top Gear presenter wants to create a 60-space car park at his Diddly Squat farm in the village of Chadlington
Clarkson, 62, is now hoping to get approval for a new application to just create a larger car park for his existing farm shop, with improved landscaping to make it more acceptable.
West Oxfordshire District Council still has to rule on the application which will increase the number of car parking spaces on the farm site by six fold.
Clarkson has been at the centre of controversy since he started running his arm himself in 2019 after the retirement of the farmer who grew crops on his 1,000 acres of land.
Millions of viewers have so far watched his Amazon Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm which details his hilarious attempts to reinvent himself as a farmer.
Clarkson was given planning consent in November 2019 for a lambing shed and a farm shop with ten car parking spaces at his farm in Chadlington which is in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
But police had to deal with traffic chaos after the show began screening last June, leading to motorists clogging up country lanes as they tried to visit.
On one day fields on the farm which were set aside for temporary car parking were being used by an estimated 400 vehicles.
Under the plans a new entrance and exit system would be put in place, while hedgerows would be planted and the number of parking spaces increased
A 10-space car park was approved for the shop last year, but it quickly overflowed after the farm's popularity boomed following the release of the Amazon Prime Video series Clarkson's Farm
Clarkson is attempting to reduce congestion and stop visitors parking on the road by creating the new parking area
The presenter’s new plans involve trying to reduce congestion and visitors parking on the road by creating a new parking area marked out by straw bales where around 60 cars can park with an additional four disabled spaces and cycle parking.
The plans include a tarmac surfaced entrance and separate exit, a fenced paddock screened from the road by a new hedgerow and wildflower margins to ‘create a soft buffer between crops and the farm shop’.
It also proposes the building of 1.8m tall willow hurdles and hedgerows of native species such as Acer Campestre, Malus Sylvestris and Quercus Robur to screen off the car park.
But planning documents reveal that many local residents fear that the site is being over developed.
Nigel Winser, from Chadlington, wrote in his letter of objection: ‘If the Farm Shop was loyal to selling local farm produce, the small car park is appropriate.
‘Alas the shop is already selling souvenirs, that attract large number of buyers from all corners of the UK.
‘This trend will continue to grow year on year, with increasing number of national and international buyers. Good for tourism, but not for sustainable farming in a beautiful area of national importance, for nature.
‘Permission for this car park, will be the thin end of wedge, known as “planning creep”.
‘Visitor numbers will grow, a large restaurant will be established, high lighting will have to be added
