Jeremy Clarkson Hit With Legal Battle As Neighbours Rally Against Clarkson’s Farm Presenter
A neighbour to Jeremy Clarkson and his Farm, Diddly Squat, is launching a legal battle against the Clarkson’s Farm presenter as he accused him of making his land a ‘theme park’.
Hamish Dewar, the man starting this legal battle, admitted that Jeremy had thrown names at him such as “moron” and “busybody” while they are in a face off at Diddly Squat Farm.
Despite this, Dewar says he won’t back down, regardless of the future vocal attacks he may receive from the Grand Tour presenter, with him fearing that the town is going to turn into a tourist attraction for fans who want to see where the series was filmed and visit the successful farm shop.
On top of this, he thinks locals are scared to complain to Jeremy, worrying that they “might appear in one of the journalist’s columns”. But the painting restorer who has lived in the area for 28 years isn’t going to back down after complaining of increased traffic both on the road and on foot.
He said: “I think people are quite wary of expressing their opinions because Clarkson tends to respond in his column in the Sunday Times. I think that means people are quite reluctant to speak out.
“He’s written about me in the Sunday Times, calling me a busybody and a moron. He also described the chairman of the parish council in a very rude manner.”
He’s also fighting against Jeremy’s plans to expand his business by converting a lambing shed into a restaurant that would house 60 people. In total there are 33 objections from residents, while a survey on the land also came up with bad news.
Mr Dewar said the following: “The concern is [Chadlington] is an area of outstanding natural beauty. If he gets permission for this restaurant, the amount of traffic will have a significant impact on the village.
“[Currently] there is very little to come and look at. But if there is a restaurant and a bar with an alcohol licence until 11pm at night, there is going to be many more cars coming into the village.”
He continued: “A lot of people have expressed their comments and complaints regarding the planning application on the council’s website. But the legal side of it, I’m doing on my own.”
The application for the expansion of the business in the form of the restaurant reads the following:
“It is reasonable for a farm business to investigate ways to replace this income with on-farm diversification to create new income streams or expand existing enterprises.”
Mr Dewar also added that he doesn’t want the look of the area to change: “It’s a very beautiful area with beautiful views and this is completely out of character with the surrounding countryside.
“Clarkson got permission to build there for agricultural use and now he wants to change it into a cafe and restaurant without giving it a fair chance to be used for agriculture.”
Clarkson’s Farm will return for a second series next year where hopefully we’ll get to see more of the drama behind his business.
I live in San Francisco and we have more than our fair share of NIMBYs (not-in-my-back-yard). They chose some arbitrary point in time and want the world to come to a screeching halt. The fact of the matter is that things change. People need housing; farms need new avenues for income. And even quaint villages benefit greatly from tourism and an influx of new money.
I cannot believe people are so worried about tourist being a long term problem for his small shop. That’s not saying there won’t be small scale tourism, but not enough to cause problems for the little town. They are ACTUALLY making it WORSE For it by bringing this unnecessary attention.