Clarkson slams UK’s’ broken’ planning rules amid row over pub car park – as he jokes ‘you can’t even change a lightbulb’
JEREMY Clarkson has slammed the UK’s “broken” planning system amid a row over his pub’s car park.
The star of Clarkson’s Farm, 66, joked that “you aren’t even allowed to change a light bulb”.
The former Top Gear host won a planning battle with the local council in March to extend the car park of his pub, The Farmer’s Dog.
But Clarkson now fears “it’s going to kick off all over again” as the two sides butt heads over his attempts to create a solid surface for cars in the muddy field next to his Cotswolds boozer.
Writing for The Sunday Times, the 66-year-old said he was “keen to get cracking” before the “winter rains turned the field into a mud bath” for his customers.
However, Clarkson said urgency “is not a word fully understood by local authorities” and all he had heard back was “silence”.
He fumed: “There’s no doubt that the planning system in this country is broken, and I suspect it’s because far too many people are invited to have an opinion on each application.”
The Amazon Prime star cites the countless authorities he had to speak to when applying for his restaurant, saying they’re all going to “chime in” otherwise “they’re admitting their jobs are pointless“.
Clarkson also blasts the members of the public who will “always object” for either “noise, newts or traffic” and adds if the application is referred to a planning officer, then “you’ve had it”.
He acknowledged plans to overhaul the planning system as “great” but says upon closer inspection, they still give locals huge powers to object to new developments.
He writes: “It’s strange that nearly all of the buildings that are listed as important and worthy of preservation in this country were built before planning permission came along in 1948.
“And almost all of the ones that came afterwards aren’t. If it got the nod from the local council, it’s rubbish and you can do what you like with it. If it didn’t, you aren’t even allowed to change a lightbulb.”
Jezza says the solution may lie in stopping “ill-informed people” having the power to bring a stop to projects and welcomed the use of AI in the decision-making process.
Local authorities gave him the green light to use his land as a car park until 31 December 2029 earlier this year.
He had taken the decision to rent out a nearby field, owned by a neighbouring farmer, to avoid gridlock on the small country lanes and improve facilities since he took over the pub.
Clarkson had gone to great lengths to please conservation experts, who raised concerns that a nearby 1,400-year-old ancient burial mound called the Asthall Barrow maybe affected.
In response, he installed aluminium sheets to form a hard surface on the six-acre car park so motors could run over the field smoothly.
At the time, Jezza’s planning team stated the car park was essential, saying The Farmer’s Dog had “proven to be very popular”.
