Councillor who took on Clarkson’s Farm reveals the one rule he’d impose against Jeremy Clarkson if he could
A councillor who walked away from his council seat after taking on Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm has revealed the one measure he'd place on the location if it was his choice.
Season three of Clarkson's Farm has aired on Amazon Prime Video, with the first four episodes dropping on Friday, 3 May.
The second half of the show will show up on Prime Video this Friday (10 May) - with millions expected to tune back in after the one week wait.
And so far, the season has been an emotional one, including the revelation of loveable farmhand Gerald's cancer diagnosis.
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The third season has also seen West Oxfordshire District Council issue a fresh statement after the third outing of the show revealed what happened after the closure of Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm restaurant.
And then there's the poor piglets, with Clarkson recently explaining why he still eats pork despite their sad fate.
The trials and tribulations of Diddly Squat Farm has been real life for some, though.
Enter Dean Temple.
Temple represented the Chadlington and Churchill ward on the West Oxfordshire council from 2021 to 2024, with Clarkson's farm falling under his jurisdiction - meaning he had pretty legitimate reasons to keep a close eye on the goings on at the 1,000-acre landmark.
Elected back in 2021, he quit the seat this month and unsuccessfully stood to be a councillor in another ward in the 2024 local elections.
Prior to being elected, Temple told The Telegraph: "I was told it was a nice, quiet place where nothing ever happens... my life turned upside-down."
As we know, Clarkson's Farm follows Jezza's ongoing dispute against the council as he tries to diversify the traditional arable land.
We're talking farm shop, restaurant, car park, and even toilets for people visiting to purchase goods.
Watching the first series, Temple said: "I was sitting there watching it as a fan, laughing away, thinking, ‘This is brilliant, this is fantastic, this is... ah, sugar.
"All of a sudden I was getting calls, death threats from all over the world because, apparently, I’m a nasty individual.”
During his time as a councillor for Chadlington, issue was raised with the farm shop and its parking woes, as it became a tourism attraction of its own for those heading to the Cotswolds farm.
“Every season when it’s open, that road is blocked for weeks,” Temple says.
“You can’t get ambulances down there. You can’t get fire engines down there. "And it’s just a complete mess. It’s not designed for such a flow of traffic.”
If it was up to him, Temple would put specific rules on the farm shop and how it operates.
He said: “If you build the car park and take [traffic] off the road, fantastic. But it means putting 14 acres of tarmac across the Cotswolds.
"You go up there and look out, see beautiful green, beautiful green, beautiful green, dogs**t car park, beautiful green.
"That’s the imbalance we have in planning. Yes, it’s the answer, but there is nothing worse than solving a problem by inventing another problem.”
For Temple, he would not allow the farm shop open until the schools broke up in school to help with the parking issues down the main road next to the farm shop entrance.
He's ready to pay Clarkson his dues, however, saying that he clearly cares about the local people he works and trades with, adding that 'he will actually engage with the community'.
You can watch season three of Clarkson's Farm on Prime Video.
Topics: Clarkson's Farm, Jeremy Clarkson, Politics, Driving, Cars, Environment, UK News, TV, TV and Film, Documentaries
Tom Earnshaw