FORTY YEARS after a battle to protect a North Oxford street, the next generation is picking up the fight against development.

In 1974, a Save Rawlinson Road group successfully fought off plans for a block of luxury flats, leading to the creation of the North Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area.

Plans have now been put forward by University College to build accommodation nearby, on a site off Banbury Road.

In a joint plan with Fairfield Residential Home, it proposes moving 29 elderly residents into a new building on the site and housing 29 students in the revamped residential home.

Adrian Hewitt was a schoolboy in the 1970s when his stepmother Karen Hewitt and other members of the Save Rawlinson Road group, including writer Ian McEwan and physiologist Sir Richard Doll, fought off development. He is now fighting the new proposals.

The father-of-two said: “For us it feels very uncomfortable. The college seems to be buying up a lot of property around here. We want rules to be adhered to – this is a conservation area.”

He is part of the recently formed Friends of North Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area, which has written to Oxford City Council detailing its concerns.

The 59-year-old said: “There’s a real feeling that despite it being against planning policy this might go ahead.

“It’s the next generation picking up the fight – the work of my parents and others have kept development at bay until now.”

Karen Hewitt, 73, who still lives in Rawlinson Road with her son, added: “It wasn’t nimbyism. It’s just a very beautiful area and the same thing applies now. It’s a much bigger development than it should be.”

John Mordue, who owns a flat in Thackley End near the planned site, said: “I feel for the people of Rawlinson Road who can see nice Victorian gardens at the moment but may in future see a three-storey block.”

University College bursar Frank Marshall said: “We believe this proposal is a good example of how university development can be designed to be consistent with the character of North Oxford as well as meeting the needs of students.”