Owner of country estate between Banbury and Bicester condemns council over warehouse appeal decision

Plans to build four large warehouses on both sides of the A43 between the Baynard's Green roundabout and Junction 10 of the M40 will be considered at a public inquiry after developers appealed Cherwell District Council's refusal.

The proposals include four large warehouses, with one building covering an area equivalent to around 80 football pitches and another spanning approximately 150 hectares of countryside.

Cherwell District Council's planning committee rejected the applications in January, concluding the buildings would cause significant harm to the countryside and nearby communities.

Developers Tritax Symmetry Ardley and Albion Land have appealed the decisions, with the public inquiry due to begin on September 22.

In a statement released in June, the council said that, subject to an acceptable planning obligation being secured, it does not intend to present evidence to defend its reasons for refusing the applications.

The move has drawn criticism from the neighbouring Tusmore Estate and Stoke Lyne Parish Council, who say they will now have to argue the case against the developments themselves.

Tusmore Estate, says it would be significantly affected by the proposals and has criticised the council's decision.

The estate says the developments would undermine decades of conservation work, including the planting of one million trees since businessman Wafic Saïd became custodian almost 40 years ago.

Estate manager William Jones said: “The Tusmore Estate will continue to stand with our neighbours at Stoke Lyne Parish Council and the campaigners of the Stoke Lyne Action Team.

“These warehouses were refused on sound planning grounds, and we will make that case at the appeal.

“The proposals would undo two decades of extensive conservation work. Lorries, traffic, noise and emissions would turn tranquil countryside into an industrial estate.”

Mr Saïd said he was “dismayed” the council had “turned its back on the people of Stoke Lyne”.

He added: “The residents here have done everything asked of them. They raised sound planning objections and did their democratic duty, asking only that the council listen.

“Baynards Green is the quintessential Oxfordshire countryside — and it is worth protecting. We intend to see that it is.”

Nick Barnes, chairman of Stoke Lyne Parish Council, said: “The council refused these warehouses because they were flawed applications. Nothing about those applications has changed. The council's refusals stand. Yet the council has now walked away from its duty to defend its own decisions, with no explanation.

“Residents have a right to know why, and who took this decision. More than that, they have a right to expect their council to stand behind the decisions it made on their behalf. Instead, they have been left to do the council's work for it, defending those refusals at inquiry alone.

“This decision exposes a system that hands the advantage to developers with the deep pockets to fight all the way to public inquiry, whilst leaving residents to pay the price.”

A spokesperson for Cherwell District Council said: “After taking independent professional planning advice, the council concluded there was insufficient evidence to robustly defend the reasons for refusal at appeal and that doing so carried a significant risk of costs being awarded against the council and local taxpayers.

“The appeals will now be determined independently by the Planning Inspectorate, which will consider all evidence submitted by the parties involved before reaching a decision.”