Cherwell District Wildlife Sites

Cherwell District Council required a robust and transparent system for the selection of sites of local importance in its area referred to as District Wildlife Sites (DWS). This includes updating the evidence base and assessment of proposed sites.

TVERC carried out a project for Cherwell District Council in 2013, resulting in the identification of 63 sites of potential district importance for wildlife. The project was desk-based, using information from local groups and experts alongside TVERC datasets and knowledge of rejected and denotified LWS. TVERC has also recommended selection criteria for Cherwell District Wildlife Sites based on the existing Local Wildlife Site criteria, but with lower thresholds and requirements. The criteria also assess the local importance of sites for recreation and community use and place more emphasis on connectivity.

TVERC has completed a series of projects for Cherwell District Council between 2015 and 2023, to develop site selection criteria, carry out surveys and process sites through an independent selection panel. This has resulted in the selection of 32 Cherwell DWS. 

28 out of the 32 proposed sites, have not been recently surveyed or require additional species data to allow processing by the site selection panel and TVERC will be carryng out additional surveys in 2024.