West Oxfordshire District Council has defended itself after scenes of the authority's clashes with Jeremy Clarkson appeared on the second season of his hit show.

The council maintain that proper procedures were followed in his application for a car park at Diddly Squat farm shop.

Cars were seen queuing outside the establishment at the weekend.

The shop reopened at the same time as season two of Clarkson's Farm being aired on Amazon Prime.

READ MORE: Queues for reopening of Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop

Here is the full council statement:

“We understand that the planning process shown in season two of Clarkson’s Farm can seem obstructive and that people will be confused by the planning decisions at Diddly Squat Farm. 

"As with any other planning authority, we have a legal responsibility to make sure that planning laws and policies are followed correctly by everyone to manage development and protect local communities and the environment.

“This is regardless of who they are and we treat Diddly Squat Farm no differently.

READ MORE: 'Diddly Squat Farm must be treated like any other' says council 

“Behind the scenes we have worked with the owners and planning agents of Diddly Squat Farm over the past two years to try and reach a positive outcome where the business can operate within the planning laws and policies. 

“The work Diddly Squat Farm is doing to highlight the wider challenges faced by farmers is commendable and we support farm diversification to help local farmers bring in income as they have lost other funding.

“Farming and rural businesses are incredibly important in West Oxfordshire and we sympathise with the challenges farmers face in running their businesses, especially after the uncertainty caused by Brexit as highlighted in Clarkson’s Farm.

 

“Officers and councillors have to make some difficult decisions based on national planning related laws, guidance, and local policies.

“They also have to weigh up the views of local communities and the wider impact of a proposal, both positive and negative, to reach an overall decision.

“Most cases have their pros and cons as was obvious with the decisions for Diddly Squat Farm in Clarkson’s Farm.

“Indeed the council recognised the benefits in the proposal to local farmers and the economy but the proposals did not meet other planning requirements. 

“Diddly Squat Farm is in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which means it has to follow much tighter national planning laws to protect the natural environment.

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“We encourage businesses and residents to speak to us and obtain pre-application advice before submitting a planning application.

“This is so that we can advise and support them in creating a proposal that meets planning requirements, including in an AONB. 

“As shown on the programme, officers from the council went to meet with the owners of Diddly Squat Farm to provide advice which was one of multiple conversations we had to try and support the farm. 

“Over recent years, Diddly Squat Farm has had many planning applications approved where they were in line with national and local planning policy.

“This included approving the farm shop with its current car park, approving a lambing shed and allowing the area from which farm shop produce could be sourced to be extended.

“The farm shop we approved can sell local produce from local farmers - which we wholly support. 

"To try and help solve the parking problems at Diddly Squat Farm, in a recent meeting with Mr Clarkson we discussed the possibility of Diddly Squat Farm making an application for temporary planning permission for a car park in an alternative location which we felt might have been supported by the council. 

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“Diddly Squat Farm operated for a large part of 2021 and 2022 outside the planning permissions granted - as seen in Clarkson’s Farm.

“The council gave advice to try and solve the issues in a constructive way but unfortunately, this advice was not followed.

“We were left with no alternative but to enforce the breaches in planning law in the same way we believe residents would want us to deal with any unlawful development.

“We only ever take such action as a last resort.

“We will continue to work proactively in trying to resolve the issues at Diddly Squat Farm, working with the owners and agents and our partners at Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police to protect the safety of residents and visitors and make sure planning laws are applied fairly to protect the community and environment. 

“If you are interested in the full details you can read all the documents on the Diddly Squat Farm planning applications on our website including the plans, comments from interested parties, professional planning views, and minutes from the planning meeting.”