There is good news this week that the proposed District Wildlife Site at Skimmingdish Lane has been saved from development for the second time in two months.

The plans were returned to the council last week because the developers complained of deficiencies in the council’s procedure at the previous planning meeting.

The social media response to this green space being saved for Bicester has been lively, with relief and joy being expressed by many.

But the joy is tempered by feelings of outrage that the vegetation and top soil from half the site were stripped by a bulldozer just two days after planning permission was refused in October.

At last week’s meeting, councillors were encouraged not to take the site clearance into account in making their decision because that doesn’t need planning permission and there had been no breach of planning control.

However, Bicester people could clearly see the injustice to the resident wildlife on the site in having the vegetation cleared, and rallied round by writing letters of objection to the planners and by lobbying their local councillors.

The fact that developers can strip their land bare without planning permission and this is legal, does not bode well for the future survival of any potential wildlife site that is threatened by development.

It is good news therefore, that there are several proposed District Wildlife Sites in our local area that Cherwell District Council, along with other agencies, is working towards getting surveyed and formally designated.

There are also plans to increase the biodiversity of these sites through better management, given sufficient funding can be raised.

However, these sites are in public ownership and hopefully will not be threatened by future development.

In contrast, there is the example of Gavray Meadows Local Wildlife Site which is in private ownership, and the landowners are taking no action to manage the site so that the ecology for which it was designated is likely to become degraded and future development less easy to resist.

It is a sad fact that Local Wildlife Sites have little protection in law in contrast to Local Nature Reserves such as Bure Park.

If you agree that our local patches of green should be better protected under the law, then you could sign a petition to the Environment Secretary at you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/protect-local-wildlife-sites-in-law