Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Clarkson shares restaurant plans with villagers in charm offensive
JI’m going to tell them, this is what we’re doing, and listen to their concerns JEREMY CLARKSON
EREMY Clarkson wants to convert his lambing shed at his Cotswolds farm into a restaurant, according to residents.
The television presenter, 61, called a meeting with local people at the Memorial Hall in Chadlington after there was “gossip” in the village over the Diddly Squat farm shop’s future.
Dozens of residents turned up at the hall on Thursday night for a question and answer session with Clarkson over his development plans for Diddly Squat Farm.
Capacity inside the hall was strictly limited, with only 40 people allowed, but large crowds still gathered outside as the former Top Gear star arrived in a green Range Rover.
The main concerns addressed at the meeting by residents surrounded traffic problems and the logjam of vehicles in Chadlington and neighbouring villages up to two miles away.
Clarkson arrived at the hall five minutes before the meeting was due to begin, and posed for selfies with fans – even stopping to say hello to one woman’s children via a video call.
And when asked what he planned to say to residents, the TV presenter said: “I’m just here to listen.
“They don’t know what we’re planning on doing, so I’m going to tell them, this is what we’re doing, and listen to their concerns. That seems to be the sensible thing.”
Clarkson’s team from the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm also arrived at the village hall, including
Kaleb Cooper, Gerald Cooper and Charlie Ireland.
But they were not able to go into the meeting as the hall was at full capacity – so they waited outside in the rain.
Chadlington residents had started queuing up outside the hall from 5.45pm, over an hour before the meeting started.
After the meeting some locals said Clarkson hoped half the lambing shed would become a kitchen and half would be a restaurant area.
He added it would be “cheaper” than nearby restaurants, meaning people would pay around £60 for a meal for two.
Clarkson also apparently told locals he was hoping to curb the number of people who visit the shop daily. It has seen shoppers travel from across the country and queue for hours to buy goods such as candles, fresh milk and cheese.
Jonathan Moore, 53, a doctor who lives nearby, was inside the meeting.
He said: “It’s all subject to planning, so he can’t promise anything yet, but he’s hoping to change the lambing shed into a restaurant. We thought it would be for 150 (people) but it’s actually 60 seats, and he’s trying to control the number of people coming to the farm shop in the future.
“It’s very expensive to sell his produce so he wants to try and sell as much through the farm shop and the restaurant as he can. As expected there were some people who had very strong views either way; the people who had negative views made them more strongly. He gave his views for the future and that’s all we can really hope for.”
Mr Moore added: “I am sympathetic – no one could ever have dreamt it was such a successful series. He couldn’t ever have predicted that. I think it will be good as long as it’s controlled. I don’t want to stifle success.”
Fellow resident Maggie Jackman said: “It went very well, he was very entertaining. A lot of people were completely won over.
“When we got to valid points about short-term and long-term solutions, that’s when we came up with some very sensible ideas. So we just have to watch the space.
“I’m waiting to see if he puts words into action.”
Other villagers were mainly concerned about the traffic congestion.
Bethan Dennick, 52, had come from the other side of neighbouring Chipping Norton.
She said: “We just want to know what he is planning because it is already impacting us so much driving wherever we go.
“I live just the other side of Chipping Norton and I’ve had to change my route to work as a result. I do think that his programme has done a lot for farming, so there’s positives and negatives.
“But it will be interesting to see what he has planned and how the infrastructure will cope.”
Villagers are divided over the impact of the shop with some saying it has put Chadlington on the map and boosted the local economy.
Searches for homes to buy in Chadlington jumped by 511 per cent in June 2021, when compared with the same period in 2020, according to property website Rightmove.
The website suggested viewers have been captivated by the local countryside and looked at homes for sale in and around the area where Clarkson’s Farm is filmed.
But in June, police were called out after huge queues formed near the farm and furious residents took to social media to complain about the traffic.