Jeremy Clarkson has picked the "worst weekend" to open his new pub The Windmill, says West Oxfordshire District Council leader Liam Walker.
The councillor told Yahoo UK: "It's a long weekend, I couldn't have picked a bad weekend to do this, to be honest, but you know this is Jeremy, right?" Walker is the Conservative county councillor for the Hanborough and Minster Lovell Division, and the West Oxfordshire District Council councillor for the Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield ward.
Filming is well underway for Prime Video's hugely successful Clarkson's Farm series four and the new pub, in Burford village, Oxfordshire, is set to feature on the farming show. Excitement has been building for months since it was announced that the former Grand Tour presenter, 64, had bought the country pub for less than £1m.
However, Councillor Walker has raised concerns about parking and congestion in the area when the new pub in Burford Village, Oxfordshire, opens over the Bank Holiday weekend. His fears are not unfounded. Initially, the opening of Clarkson's Farm Shop at Diddly Squat Farm angered locals with huge queues and increased traffic.
Walker had some good advice for the TV presenter ahead of the pub's opening. "Don't annoy the locals again," he said. "They're not all the red-trouser brigade. Respect the locals and they'll support his next venture."
So what's the secret to keeping the local neighbours happy? "Maybe a free Hawkstone beer," he joked. "I think you have to understand the challenges, particularly around parking and crowds, and I think Jeremy does that to be honest."
The councillor explained why parking and crowds are a concern, particularly ahead of the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend. "The parking is a concern," he explained. "And also the crowds because of the location. So we've had a lot of issues with the farm shop because of how popular it actually is. Every series of Clarkson's Farm that comes out, we see a huge boost to tourism."
Stop bothering the locals Councillor Liam Walker
He added: "Ultimately, people travel from all over the country. I've been there a few times and you meet people who come from Scotland and Wales, which is astonishing. To be honest, they've come all the way and they obviously want to spend some money and shop in the area and visit the area, which is great for West Oxfordshire.
"But that does come with the caveat of parking and the added congestion. Particularly this location, because it's right next to a very busy dual carriageway, which it is, right opposite the A40 from London to Cheltenham. So I've been talking to our highways team about what measures can be put in place to hopefully learn the lessons from the farm shop."
"We all want the pub to be a success," he added. "It's about respecting the local community and looking at ways to reduce the impact on the new villages and the road network." Although he won't be attending the pub's opening in person, he suspects the former Top Gear presenter will be pulling pints while the cameras roll on season four of Clarkson's Farm.
He added: "Clarkson is doing a soft opening over the Bank Holiday weekend, which is what he did with the farm shop, where he only had potatoes to sell in that particular series and everyone still flocked to it. So it's going to be interesting and obviously they're doing that before filming because they've already started filming the next series and the pub."
Read more: What we know about Jeremy Clarkson's pub opening this weekendBehind the scenes, Clarkson apparently has a plan in place to solve all the parking issues, as he plans to get a field nearby for parking. Councillor Walker lifted the lid on possible solutions Clarkson has looked at, including a small fee booking system and a field nearby, as well as improving the bus stops.
He said: "So the last I heard his team were looking at a pitch nearby, which is great because it increases capacity. But obviously you increase capacity and that will increase footfall. Personally I think they should look at some sort of booking system like any tourist attraction does and charge people a small fee to book.
"I think they're doing that for the restaurant, but it's going to be a lot harder for the pub side of the pub. If you just want to have a pint, it's quite difficult, but I think people can book a table." While it's a "big ask" to get people to the pub on public transport, the councillor said it would help and that the council is supporting Clarkson with "little things" like improving bus stops.
Clarkson's battle with the council was central to Prime Video's Clarkson's Farm. One of the long-running disagreements between them was over the farm shop. In Clarkson's Farm season three, the TV star finally built the car park for the shop after getting the green light from the council.
Councillor Walker said it was all done for the cameras. He said: "The whole fiasco with the farm shop car park that was on the programme, let's face it, it was done for good TV and it worked. Jeremy is Jeremy. He does it his own way. But there are planning rules and no matter who you are, I think the council has the right to abide by them. It may seem a bit heavy handed but in the end they came up with a solution and he won his appeal on the car park.
Read more: Jeremy Clarkson in tears as he celebrates his big council win"But the council has a duty to protect the area from this sort of thing. It's a dangerous precedent, otherwise everyone will open farm shops. There are a lot of celebrities moving to West Oxfordshire now, so we don't want them all opening farm shops and pubs, it would just be chaos."
Despite the concerns, Councillor Walker is a supporter of Clarkson and has great admiration for him. "He could open anything up and make it a great success," he said. In fact, the councillor said he thinks Clarkson has done more for the countryside than the BBC's Countryfile programme, which has been running since 1988.
Read more: Countryfile viewers angry over 'doom and gloom' of Forever Chemicals piece"We have a lot of farm shops in West Oxfordshire. But to be able to get an audience through social media, a few tweets and Instagram posts, to travel hours to your farm shop in the middle of nowhere is pretty impressive. So I think it's great that he's using his kind of motoring audience to support the countryside and the rural community, and he should be applauded for that.
"I think, to be honest, he's done more for the farming community, the environment, the rural community and Countryfile, because he's reached a much younger audience and convinced them to buy British books. I think that's hugely important."
Yahoo has reached out to Jeremy Clarkson and Prime Video representatives for further comment.
