Sir, On Friday (February 23) I watched with a mixture of fascination and horror as a fully laden lorry attempted, in slightly wet conditions, to drive into Rhodewood House building site. Three times the driver tried and failed to get up the incline into the site, only succeeding on the fourth attempt. Had he slipped back another few feet, he would have ended up on the Glen Beach, demolishing several houses on the way. So far as its neighbours are concerned, this development is a continuing disaster, both from the point of view of planning and health and safety enforcement. Now we can see the buildings taking shape, it is clear that the architectural artist's impressions which helped secure planning permission were highly misleading. The buildings are too big and too close to the road, dwarfing and overlooking neighbouring properties. There will be no room on the development for the pretty ornamental gardens on the illustrations. The traffic is a nightmare. The site entrance is clearly inadequate, frequently resulting in a fully or partly blocked road between two blind bends. The tiny warning signs were never fixed properly and now cannot be seen. It is fortunate that we have as yet seen no nasty accidents. There have certainly been several near misses. Sadly, we rarely see the police. The contractors and workers block private drives and usurp private parking spaces with impunity. I frequently have had my drive blocked for half-an- hour or more, while a lorry belches diesel fumes into my front garden. The road is mostly awash with mud; the road sweeper used by the contractors merely spreads it more evenly. Those who park next to the road have learned that there is no point in washing their cars, and if one walks towards the village, it is common that one's clothes are soiled. Some of these problems were foreseen, foreseeable, and preventable. A proper and safe site entrance and adequate on-site parking should have been a prerequisite for planning permission being granted. However, in the end, the planning and enforcement process has allowed the developers to have their way. Their wealth has increased at the expense of a degraded environment for the rest of us and diminished property values for the immediate neighbours. All those responsible for allowing this should hang their heads in shame!
Mr. C. A. Clarkson, Saundersfoot.