NOTHING beats a room with a view…ask Chronicle weatherman Jonathan Powell whose family home in Gilwern has fallen victim to the ravages of development.

The much treasured outlook from the homestead in Lancaster Drive has suffered the auctioneer’s cry of going, going gone.

Gone are the rolling green fields which for many in the neighbourhood served as the thinking person’s television.

As the Persimmon Homes development takes shape the panorama is shrinking by the day.

Jonathan complained, “Residents have to withstand a weekday regime of deafening noise from the works machinery.

“Also, during any dry weather, they face a constant cleaning-up battle against thick deposits of dust, grime, and dirt, sent drifting over homes and vehicles as foundations are dug.”

And that’s not all. Wildlife has been inconvenienced too.

“Their habitats have been disturbed. There has been a spate of rat sightings in gardens,” he observed.

“Couple this with a broken fence on an access lane which shouldn’t have been used by contractors, and flashing yellow lights left on from idle overnight machinery, and you have a less than idyllic living environment,” he revealed.

“The feeling of abandonment by Monmouthshire County Council and the National Park runs deep, with much bitterness amongst the residents,” he added.