THE owner of a former quarry at the centre of a High Court battle has defended his plans to sell it for industrial development.

Farmer Tom Allen-Stevens said it was his 'dream' to help turn Wicklesham Quarry into a business park bounded by a green ring of trees, grassland and ponds.

The father-of-four, whose family have owned the quarry just outside Faringdon for generations, was speaking after a villager took her fight against his plans to the High Court.

Anna Hoare, who lives in Little Coxwell, is specifically challenging Faringdon Neighbourhood Plan, which recommends the quarry be developed as Mr Allen-Stevens wants.

She believes the plan is unlawful because, she says, it contradicts previous planing guidance for the quarry area made by the district and county councils.

The case is emotive because the quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI): Natural England describes the 31-acre bed of 110-million-year-old fossils as 'one of Britain's richest palaeontological localities'.

The land is also in a county council Conservation Target Area and at least one pond has a population of protected great crested newts.

Ms Hoare's legal case will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on June 14 and 15, and the lawyer representing the neighbourhood plan group will argue that all the correct procedures were followed.

In the run-up to the hearing, Mr Allen-Stevens has argued that his plan, which would create an estimated 600 jobs, is the best thing for Faringdon.

He argued that, as the empty quarry currently has little or no wildlife habitat, using it to boost local employment was a 'no-brainer'.

He also told this paper that he would like to see 'a six-figure' sum spent on protecting the remaining fossil-rich walls of the site, putting up information boards, and protecting a green border for wildlife around the new business park.

However he stopped short of pledging any specific money towards those schemes.

He said: "I wouldn't like to say I'm going to put £500,000 into it because I don't know whether that's a realistic figure and I don't know if I'm going to have that kind of money to spend on it.

"I probably am going to make millions out of this but I'm probably going to invest all of it back into the farm here – that's what I do."

Mr Allen-Stevens said protecting the environment was a key part of his farming practice, with wild borders and fields given over to wild flowers.

But he also warned opponents of his plans that if he could not turn the quarry into a business park: "There won't be any public access to the site.

"If there were wildlife we wouldn't want people disturbing it, and the other aspect is fly-tippers.

"Having said that, what a public resource we could potentially create here."