Clarkson facing latest council showdown over plans for pub car park

The TV presenter wants to improve parking facilities at the Farmer’s Dog to handle the huge influx of visitors since he took over.

His planning application for the ‘retention’ of works to ‘formalise’ staff car park and provide extra customer parking is currently under consideration by West Oxfordshire District Council.

But a number of potential issues have been raised by consultees that could provide Mr Clarkson with further headaches.

Oxfordshire County Council said although it raised no objection it warned if the district council deemed the car parking “not to be an established lawful use” an additional planning application would be required and several hurdles would need to be overcome.

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(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS) The county council wrote: “Taking account of the site’s potential levels of traffic generation and higher levels of parking demand, it is requested that a Traffic Management Method Statement (TMMS) be suitably conditioned if consent were to be granted. 

“This would include details of the site’s vehicle access, circulation and parking strategy and the measures that would be in place to ensure safe and efficient operation as well as the retention / use of appropriate signage to be agreed with OCC.”

The council said the access gate should “open inwards within the property as opposed to outwards to reduce any potential conflict within the public highway.”

It also said set a minimum of 2.4m x 43m “visibility splay” at the vehicle exit of the eastern car park should be maintained and kept free from obstructions, from 2m high to 0.6m above the carriageway. 

The issue of flooding was also raised by the county council with a spokesperson adding: “Should there be an increase of impermeable area a drainage strategy and flood risk assessment needs to provided.”

Mr Clarkson’s planning agent said general permitted development order legislation allows the provision of up to 50 square metres of new hardsurface within the site. 

The agent said the actual area of hardsurface provided in the western staff car park is 115 square metres and in the eastern customer car park is 290 square metres. 

They said stabilising matting has been provided to the grassed areas in the eastern car park which is considered insignificant.

Permission to park at the site, which has 170 spaces, exists already.

The proposal also includes new tree planting and hedgerow gapping around both car parks.

Mr Clarkson’s planning agent wrote in the application: “This application seeks to retain two areas of surfacing that have been provided within the site. 

“Both areas are within the area within which the existing planning permission extends and the act of parking cars itself is not one which requires permission.”

A decision on the application will be made at a later date.