Saudi billionaire landowner joins furious villagers at war with developers over 13 'XXL mega-sheds' which will swallow six MILLION sq ft of countryside

A Saudi billionaire landowner has joined furious villagers in a David-and-Goliath battle to stop 13 vast 'XXL' warehouses swallowing up swathes of Oxfordshire countryside.

Wafic Said, 86, a Syrian-born business leader and former Conservative donor, is backing formal opposition to plans for around six million square feet of mega-shed beside the M40 near Stoke Lyne.

The tycoon, whose sprawling Tusmore Park estate lies close to the proposed development, has teamed up with the village's tiny Stoke Lyne Parish Council at a public inquiry into the controversial schemes.

19Logistics giants Tritax Big Box and Albion Land are appealing to the Planning Inspectorate to overturn Cherwell District Council's refusal to grant permission to build on Baynards Green. 

Its backers have admitted the project will deal some 'environmental harm', but nevertheless point to its economy-boosting credentials as reason enough to give it the green light. 

The Lib Dem and Green-run council narrowly turned down the plans in January and has refused to defend its decision at the appeal stage because, as deputy leader Chris Brant suggested, the likelihood of successfully defending its decision was low.

Since knocking back the warehouse plans, it has since been stripped of its ability to decide large-scale applications – after refusing too many later overturned on appeal.

Mr Said was a significant donor to Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in the 1980s and a key broker in the al-Yamamah arms deal between the UK and Saudi Arabia. He holds Syrian, Saudi and Canadian citizenship.

Billionaire Wafic Said is backing villagers in their campaign against 13 huge warehouses on greenfield land beside the M40

Three of the 13 proposed warehouses to run alongside the M40 in Oxfordshire. Some could be as much as 82 feet tall, an inquiry heard

As well as Tusmore Park, he is also reported to own property in London's Belgravia. Mr Said is also a permanent resident of Monaco.

He spoke before the meeting to accuse Cherwell Council of having 'capitulated to developers'. 

Barrister James Maurici – acting for the villagers and Tusmore Park – launched a blistering attack on the proposals in his opening remarks.

The leading KC warned that the giant sheds would rise up to 25m into the air and be visible from up to 2km away.

He told the inquiry the proposed buildings would be as high as more than five double-decker buses stacked on top of each other.

Mr Maurici said: 'It's hard from the papers to get any real sense of the sheer scale of what is proposed.

'The buildings will be up to 23 or 25 metres tall. That equates to over five double-decker buses or three two-storey homes with pitched roofs stacked on top of one another.

'The schemes would comprise 570,000 square metres of logistics on 150 hectares of greenfield land.

'The combined footprint would extend over 1.4 kilometres from north to south and 2.2 kilometres east to west. The units would take up the area the size of about 45 football pitches.'

Residents of Stoke Lyne formed the Stoke Lyne Action Team to oppose the development, raising tens of thousands of pounds to mount a legal defence after Cherwell District Council backed down.

Like the nearby town of Piddington, which recently held a symbolic referendum to leave the UK in opposition to plans to house 1,250 migrants nearby, they have been left to effectively defend their village themselves.

Members of the Stoke Lyne Action Team, who have raised £50,000 to fight off warehouses that their council is refusing to battle

At present, the land alongside the M40 that could house the new 'mega-sheds' is unspoilt

Mr Maurici told the hearing that Baynards Green was 'attractive and sensitive' and the host for a number of priority and protected species.

He concluded: 'This is simply not the right place for development of this kind to go.'

'The government is committed to growth. However, its agenda is not "any development anywhere at any cost".'

Local university student Bertie Buckle warned that the development would 'create an eyesore that would break the charm of the community'.

Lawyers acting for Tritax and Albion argue the developments would create thousands of jobs and generate up to £410million for the local economy each year.

Firms including GXO, DHL and a 'FTSE 100 retailer' are eyeing up the site, the inquiry was told.

Lord Charles Banner, KC, for Tritax, said any major logistics development was 'bound to cause some environmental harms'.

He said: 'They're baked into national policy, provided that the development's siting and design works to limit these effects.

'The national interest is in the delivery of new major logistics development, and it is not to be thwarted simply because there is some environmental harm.'

Giles Cannock KC, for Albion Land, said in his opening submissions: 'There are exceptional circumstances for the location adjacent to junction 10 of the M40.'

The public inquiry is expected to run until the end of October.