I think attention needs to be drawn to what is happening in one of Penarth"s conservation areas, namely Roseberry Place / Archer Road, where a property developer is proposing to build a two-storey house in the back garden of 5 Roseberry Place.

The plan has already been opposed by Penarth Town Council, and the planning application was refused by the Vale of Glamorgan, but the developer has now appealed to the Welsh Assembly Government.

The main grounds for the appeal are that this has been allowed elsewhere, but I think the cases cited were all built before the conservation area was established and so do not really count as a precedent.

Also, two wrongs do not make a right, and just because this has happened in the past, does not mean it should be allowed to happen again. If this is allowed to happen again, every time a house with a large garden comes on the market, it will be snapped up by speculators, and the whole character of the area will change for the worse.

I hope that if this matter comes into the public spotlight, the Assembly will see fit to turn it down, as the project is to no-one"s benefit except the developer"s, and sets a dangerous precedent.

George Schoenmann

Archer Road

Penarth