Save Bethesda Field, Rogerstone

My mother moved to Rogerstone (from Birmingham) in 1999 and I moved here (from Swansea) in 2005. It was a sleepy little village with an ageing population and not much else. BUT it was quiet and there was plenty of places to walk the dogs; it was also a place for me to escape the stresses of working in the music industry.

2011. Most of the shops have closed down and the factories are all heading the same way. Production is greatly reduced down on the industrial estate and there are redundancies all over the place.

Newport is not any better; nothing to do at all.

Either last year or the year before, the Aluminium factory shut down. Many of my friends and neighbours lost their jobs. Since then, the factory has been slowly dismantled and the site cleared.

The plan for the land?

900 new homes. We do NOT have the infrastructure to cope with even more housing in the area. The village is gridlocked for a good two hours ever single day and crime instances are soaring.

Last night, I was emptying the last of my belongings from my now dead car when a woman approached me to advise that they were planning to build another 80 houses on a field by where I walk Gino every day. It is currently inhabited by two horses.

There has been no public meetings, no signs on the lampposts to say planning permission has been applied for... the village council has just decided to sell off our land to make some quick cash.

Shall we currently ignore the fact that we pay much higher rates than people in the city do, purely because we live in Rogerstone?

Yes, lets...

When I commented that they'd be stupid to do this as they can't sell the empty houses we currently have for sale in the area, I was informed that the majority of the new builds will be "social housing".

So they are planning to turn Rogerstone into one big council estate.

We already have council houses dotted about the area and, while most residents are lovely, there are also the problem families you associate with these types of estates. The latest family to move in have subsidised housing but 3 cars less than 3 years old and run a very successful business out of the property. Makes sense, huh?

You already have to queue for half an hour to negotiate Cefn Rd every morning. This will just be taking the piss.

There's a petition but I already know that Rogerstone Council don't give a shit what residents think...