Jeremy Clarkson drops plans for Diddly Squat farm restaurant
The broadcaster had tried to get planning permission to open a restaurant on the farm in Chadlington, made famous by the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, last year, but the proposals were thrown out by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC).
However, Clarkson proceeded with the project anyway, saying he had ‘found a loophole’ in the regulations. The restaurant launched in July last year with Hicce chef Pip Lacey leading the kitchen, but little more than a month later it was ordered to shut after WODC issued an enforcement notice saying the opening of the restaurant represented a 'material change of use'.
Clarkson had commenced action to appeal the notice, but in a letter to the council he has now confirmed that he has dropped plans to open the restaurant.
Explaining his decision, Clarkson said: “On the farming front, I had read about something called mob grazing. This is a highly ecological way of rejuvenating the soil, using the muck from hens and cows, rather than chemical fertilisers.+
“The problem was that if I sold the cows in the conventional way, I'd lose about £200 on each one. So I decided that to make a profit, the beef should be cooked and served in a restaurant, which I'd create by converting our lambing barn.
“Permission for this was refused. And our attempts to get round the problem by using permitted development rights, and opening up in our so-called Lowland Barn were thwarted by the enforcement notice we are appealing.
“As a result of this, I've had to sell most of the cows I bought. And now I'm back to using chemicals. I no longer wish to open a restaurant.”
The 40-cover Diddly Squat farm restaurant was housed within a small barn in the middle of a barley field, with the majority of its tables outside. The menu focused on beef from shorthorn cattle and included sticky beef croquettes with aioli and pickled chilli; and roasted topside of beef with vegetable.
Though he is no longer pursuing plans for a restaurant, Clarkson added that he is continuing to seek planning permission for the development of on-site parking for his Diddly Squat farm shop.
