Clarkson’s Law ‘to give farmers free range to set up own shops’
FARMERS will be allowed to open small scale shops on their land without planning permission under proposals yesterday dubbed ‘Clarkson’s Law’.
Downing Street said ministers would consult on a change in the law to allow farmers to diversify their businesses without facing the ‘challenges’ posed by the planning system.
It comes after Jeremy Clarkson’s highprofile attempts to open a shop and restaurant on his Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds. His farming adviser Kaleb Cooper was among the delegates at the first ‘Farm to Fork’ summit in No10 yesterday where the idea was discussed.
Rishi Sunak said ministers want to give farmers ‘greater freedoms to make the best use of existing buildings, whether for a Diddly Squat- style farm shop or a processing facility’. He added: ‘We’re going to consult on targeted changes to the planning system that enable exactly that and support our rural economy.’
The hit TV series Clarkson’s Farm documented the presenter’s clashes with the local authority over plans for a shop, car park and restaurant.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed the changes would cover plans of the type proposed by Mr Clarkson, adding: ‘That’s a high-profile example of some of the challenges the sector have faced, but obviously this is not policy targeted to one individual, it’s an issue that we know has been raised by the farming sector.’
In an open letter, the PM also promised farmers he will never allow chlorinated chicken or hormone-treated beef to be sold in Britain after the National Farmers’ Union warned such products could be allowed into the UK in future trade deals with Mexico and the USA. He said: ‘Without exception, we will continue to protect food standards in the UK under all existing and future Free Trade agreements. There will be no chlorinewashed chicken and no hormone-treated beef on the UK market. Not now, not ever.’
Mr Sunak also backed a key NFU demand to keep the proportion of the UK’s food grown here at 60 per cent.
Mr Clarkson, a friend of former PM David Cameron, has applied to convert a field into a 70-space car park to cater for visitors to his shop and help make his farm financially viable. In a column for the Sunday Times he revealed he is on his ‘last roll of the dice’ as he faces financial worries over the future of his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat farm.
Mr Clarkson, 63, whose fortune is estimated at £55.8million, wrote: ‘On top of the physical issues, which will only get worse, there are financial problems too. And they’re going to get worse as well. Grants and subsidies that I used to get from the eU, to recompense me for selling food at a loss, are dwindling until, in three years’ time, they will dry up completely.
‘If I attempt to use my land to grow food, I’ll lose money. It has been causing me some sleepless nights, that’s for sure.’
Mr Clarkson reportedly received around £250,000 in farm subsidies between December 2020 and December 2021.
environment Secretary Therese Coffey said the Government’s newly announced measures, including a £30million investment in new technologies, would put ‘more British produce on supermarket shelves and plates’.