The Clarkson’s Farm star has been given a list of council rules for his pub, including traffic management and providing bat boxes.
Jeremy Clarkson’s ongoing wrangles with the council over planning permission has taken a fresh turn as he has been given nine new rules to follow at his pub, from the height of hedges to installing bird and bat boxes. He has also been asked to carefully manage traffic following tailbacks at Diddly Squat Farm Shop.
The TV presenter turned farmer and pub landlord has regularly featured his planning permission battles with the council over Diddly Squat Farm in his Prime TV series Clarkson’s Farm, but has been luckier with his newest venture, pub The Farmer’s Dog. So far, it has not been hit by as many stumbling blocks, but the council has granted new planning permission on the condition that Clarkson follows nine rules.
Former Top Gear and Grand Tour host Clarkson was given the green light to go ahead with hard-surfacing both of the pub’s car parks earlier in January, as long as he complies with environmental safeguarding and traffic calming rules.
West Oxfordshire District Council has told Clarkson that he can carry out the work, provided he keeps the existing hedge along the northern boundary of the eastern car park above 1.5 metres tall. He also needs to replace any plants that die in the next planting season with a similar species and at the same height.
The council has said that the conditions are in place to “safeguard a feature that contributes to the biodiversity, character and landscape” of the area, reports SWNS.
As well as the rules protecting the landscape, Clarkson has also been asked to take a close look at how he will manage traffic coming to The Farmer’s Dog — something that’s unlikely to come as a surprise to Clarkson’s Farm fans, who will have been following the traffic dramas at Diddly Squat Farm Shop.
He has been asked to provide a transport management method statement in the next six weeks to “ensure all appropriate measures are taken to manage traffic and ensure road safety for vehicles and pedestrians”.
Clarkson will also need to ensure that the car park access gates to the pub, located off the A40, open inwards. He is not allowed to start work on the hard surfacing until he has submitted a surface water drainage scheme and it has been approved in writing.
Other rules include nature-friendly adjustments such as installing bird and bat boxes, and enhancing grassland around the beer garden.
West Oxfordshire planning officer Kelly Murray said in her decision that the pub, which Clarkson bought in 2024 for £1m, had attracted an “unusual” level of traffic, which was causing problems for Asthall.
“The number of visitors to the site is reportedly causing congestion along the A40 and also within the village of Asthall itself,” she said.
She drew comparisons to Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm Shop, which sparked complaints over severe traffic issues when it opened, as hordes of fans of the star flocked to his rural venture.
The nine rules imposed on The Farmer’s Dog expansion plans:
Hedge height requirement
The existing hedge along the northern boundary of the eastern car park must be maintained at a minimum height of 1.5 metres.
Replacement of dead plants
Any hedge or plant that dies must be replaced in the next planting season with a similar species at the same height.
Biodiversity protection purpose
Landscaping must be managed specifically to safeguard biodiversity, character, and the landscape of the area (this is a binding planning condition tied to vegetation management).
Transport management plan
A transport management method statement must be submitted within six weeks, detailing how traffic and pedestrian safety will be managed.
Traffic and road safety measures
The transport plan must demonstrate that appropriate measures are in place to manage traffic impacts caused by the pub’s “unusual” visitor numbers.
Car park access gates
All car park access gates must open inwards, not outwards.
Surface water drainage scheme
A detailed surface water drainage scheme for both car parks must be submitted.
Drainage approval before work starts
No work may begin until the drainage scheme has been approved in writing by the council.
Nature-friendly enhancements
The pub must install bird and bat boxes and carry out grassland enhancements around the beer garden.
The planning permission requirements come as Clarkson is facing a fresh drama — Labour’s planned tax raid on pubs. It has outraged many a landlord, Clarkson among them, as he set out the problems a rise in business taxes would cause him in his weekly newspaper column. He is one of many publicans who will be hoping for a U-turn on the plans.
Clarkson wrote in The Sunday Times: “The chef Tom Kerridge said the rates on his burger joint in Marlow would go up from £50,000 a year to £124,000. ‘What’s the point in being open?’ he asks reasonably.
“At my pub, the Farmer’s Dog, things aren’t quite that bleak, but they’re still pretty terrible. The rateable value would shoot up from £27,250 to £55,000, and when you factor in the national insurance rise, which has upped our wage bill by £42,000 a year, we’d be up a gum tree.
“Because how can you pass this on to customers when they have a £2billion gas bill to pay, and they can’t get there anyway because of the new drink driving rules.”
The announcement also led to him barring more than 400 Labour MPs from The Farmer’s Dog in protest.
