Sir, Last week the development management committee of the National Park Authority approved, after a site visit, an application for further residential development on the 'grassy verge' which runs around the Skrinkle housing estate in Manorbier. These decision makers were neither elected nor appointed to the authority by council-tax payers in the National Park, neither are they necessarily resident in the park nor, in some cases, in the county. The residents in Skrinkle had worked hard at ensuring their concerns had been made clear to the committee, in particular the need for the green areas to remain intact. The chairman of Manorbier Community Council, Tony Wales, is quoted as saying that, "a good 98 per cent of people opposed the application". Is this what passes for democracy in 2007? A small estate of houses, many owned, some rented, but all improved and cherished by the families who live in them as a decent place to live and bring up children, is about to have its environment destroyed by brainless over- development. The existing properties were not built with rumpus rooms or with basements or attics which could be used as playrooms. The grassy verges, now in dispute, are well used by children as safe play areas and by mothers, often with babies and toddlers in tow, as a community meeting area; like an old style village green. The plan, now given the go-ahead, is for the curtilage of these homes to be churned up, concreted over and built upon. The wellbeing of both the existing residents, especially the children, and the incomers will be damaged, possibly with long term consequences, thanks to the combined efforts of the Housing Association and the National Park. These two bodies have learned nothing from the UK's disastrous post-war housing policy, which was to build irrespective of local amenity, often with subsequent anti-social outcomes. This is a plan to build affordable housing, jam-packed onto grassy verges, in an already high-density residential area, without visual amenity, breathing space, green areas and playgrounds adjacent to homes. It would appear that the high-handed attitude of the so-called development management committee treats both the existing residents and those needing a roof over their heads with equal contempt. This development is good for no-one. In the long term, it will be viewed as another example of planning blight in a place of outstanding natural beauty, close to a conservation area and in a National Park.

Pearl McCabe,

Fernley Lodge, Manorbier.