For almost two years now, Jeremy Clarkson has been fighting with residents living around his Diddly Squat Farm. But now the complaints have escalated massively as many members of the public have written letters to the local council to complain about the expansion of the site.
The Clarkson’s Farm presenter is looking to add a 60-space car park with a separate entrance after his farm shop became so popular. This was planned to please local residents after many complained of cars being parked on the side of roads around the area. But many still aren’t happy as they call his shop an “eyesore”.
While West Oxfordshire District Council decides on whether these expansion plans will be accepted, residents have sent in several letters which are free to read by the public.
Nigel Winser, from Chadlington, wrote the following in 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 and before long, this will become a major UK visitor attraction, bringing increased road safety and environmental risks to the whole valley.”
Michael Cooper, another resident, wrote that Clarkson’s plans show “no respect or consideration” for his neighbours:
“The planned entrance and exit will not necessarily improve road safety and traffic flow. With an extra ‘pinch point’ and being so close together there is the potential for additional issues and accidents.”
Maggie Jackman, a resident of Chipping Norton, said that the carpark would “urbanise” the countryside around the area:
“Whilst I would welcome a solution to the dangerous parking along the Chipping Norton Road out of Chadlington, I am very worried about the impact on an area of natural beauty and light pollution.”
Susan Bishop, also from the Chipping Norton area, complained saying:
“The mess continues to get worse as construction vehicles are constantly in operation.
“The only respite we had during the first couple of months of this year, when the shop was closed, was that there was less traffic through our narrow roads.
“Mud on the roads, however, continued to be hazardous as a direct result of the building machines.
“As soon as the farm shop reopened, expected chaos ensued, with large volumes of cars and traffic travelling through our village and up the Chipping Norton Road.
“One would have anticipated building to cease then, but it hasn’t and visitors have even less area in which to queue.”
Mrs Bishop predicted that the new series of Clarkson’s Farm would lead to ‘a surge of newcomers’ adding pressure to the local ‘rapidly deteriorating’ road surfaces and creating additional safety hazards.
Karl Hames, a Chadlington resident, added:
“Any car park providing adequate spaces for the level of traffic we have seen at Diddly Squat would undoubtedly be a huge eyesore.”
Yet another resident, George Bailey, admitted that he believes the larger car park still won’t be enough to quell the issues on the roads around the area
Mrs R M Godfrey however, has a balanced view on the idea of expansion:
“I am all in favour of farmers diversifying and of having farm shops, but what needs to be recognised is that this site is not an ordinary farm shop with the amount of traffic an ordinary farm shop would attract.
“This is also a tourist attraction with fans of the TV series travelling great distances across the country, and it is attracting far more traffic and visitors than an ordinary farm shop would do, to the detriment of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
“As the new opening season has begun the residents of Chadlington have once more faced the eyesore and inconvenience of streams of cars parked on the verge of the road outside the shop, a verge which is a muddy mess when the weather is wet, often causing the cars not to pull over onto it, but instead to park in the road.”
