Council brands Clarkson's Farm season 2 as 'misleading'

This comes following scenes in the new season that show clashes between West Oxfordshire District Council and Mr Clarkson.

The planning committee rejected plans for a restaurant and new farm track at Diddly Squat Farm.

READ MORE: I watched Clarkson's Farm as a vegetarian and this is what I thought

Of particular controversy was the suggestion that the restaurant was refused partly because it would cause light pollution or affect the ‘dark skies’ as it was referred to in the show.

In an exclusive statement given to the Oxford Mail, a council spokesman said: “The planning meeting shown in Clarkson’s Farm ran for well over an hour but was covered in a matter of minutes in the show.

“This meant that a lot of discussion from the meeting was missed, including a lot of very relevant legal planning advice and discussion that informed the decision taken by councillors.

Jeremy Clarkson with Kaleb Cooper

“The ‘dark skies’ argument that featured in the programme was a very small part of the overall discussion and was not the reason for refusal of planning permission.”

West Oxfordshire District Council argue a lot of information was not included in the programme and this lends to a warped narrative of the planning meeting.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson Diddly Squat visit sees hour-long queues

The council spokesperson added: “Throughout series two of Clarkson’s Farm a lot of information was not included, or appears to have been misleading for viewers, leading to the narrative promoted by the series that the council has a vendetta against Mr Clarkson.

“A good example of this was the ‘refusal’ of the farm track where the show omitted the fact that Diddly Squat Farm had applied retrospectively for work that can only be applied for in advance meaning the council had no choice under law but to refuse it.

“Also, it was suggested that West Oxfordshire District Council had put cones along the road outside the farm which was not the case.

The council has maintained that they did not treat Mr Clarkson’s application differently to any other.

READ MORE: Councillor featured in Clarkson's Farm receives vile abuse 'from all over the world'

The council spokesman concluded: "We would like to be clear we treat each application fairly and objectively regardless of the individuals involved with the submission.

“This is also the case with the Diddly Squat Farm.

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

"Behind the scenes we have worked with the owners and planning agents of Diddly Squat Farm to try and reach a positive outcome where the business can operate within the planning laws and policies and help to support other local farmers.”

An online petition objecting to the decisions made by West Oxfordshire District Council has so far amassed nearly 150,000 signatures.

In response to these claims, a spokesperson for Clarkson's farm said: "Naturally not every element of filming makes the final edit of the programmes, however the episode covered both sides of the debate and the outcome of the meeting."

They also added that no specifc council was referenced as being reponsible for the traffic cones. 

The full council statement can be read on the Oxford Mail website tomorrow (Wednesday, March 8).