PEOPLE in a quiet Oxford close are waiting to see if a developer will be given permission to build student accommodation on nearby land.

People living in Mattock Close, Headington, were relieved when plans to build two blocks of student flats were turned down last summer.

However, Cherwell Housing Trust, which is developing the student dwellings on behalf of Oxford Brookes University, has appealed against the decision and a local inquiry is set to be held at the Town Hall next month.

Brenda Mundy, 43, who has led residents in the campaign against the proposals, said: "These plans have been turned down twice already, I am amazed at the persistence of the developers.

"It is us that will have to live with this, not the developers or the people making the decisions, which is why we need to be heard.

"It is not that I am completely opposed to students living in the area. There have been students that have lived on the site before.

"I just feel these plans would be an over-intensification of the site."

Under the proposed plans, 88 and 90 Windmill Road and 1A Mattock Close would be demolished to make way for two blocks, housing 49 students.

The plans were rejected by the city council's north east area committee in June, and again by the Strategic Development Control Committee in July.

Janet Austin, who has lived in Mattock Close for 14 years, said residents would be continuing their fight against the proposals.

She said: "Speaking to people who live in the close, I know that everyone is still against the plans.

"This is a residential area and it should stay like that. They should not be allowed to develop student accommodation right next to people's homes."

People living in Windmill Road have also voiced their concerns.

William Moss, 61, said: "It is a residential area and student halls would not be in keeping with the surrounds. I hope the planning inspector has some sense."

A spokesman for Cherwell Housing Trust, part of the Dominion Housing Group, said: "If our proposals are accepted in April, we will do our utmost to ensure that we deliver high-quality, well-managed student housing that will both complement and benefit the local community, as we have done elsewhere in the past."

The inquiry will be held on Tuesday, April 22, from 10am.