SIR,

Reading your report on the Prehistoric Long House found on the new building development at Rockfield, I was amazed by the report of retaining a small copse of trees for 'the wildlife'.

By the time the development is finished there will be no wildlife left.

As someone born and raised in Rockfield, I can remember what real wildlife was before the development started.

Curlews, lapwings, skylarks and many other species of birds nested across the fields. Wild flowers grew everywhere. Of course these fields flooded.

Could it be, I wonder, anything to do with finding a vast, underground dried up lake there?

I must agree with the letter from Cllr Sue Chivers.

She hit the nail right on the head, it is all about money and profit. Are people who buy these houses being told to make sure they can gain insurance, or are the builders giving them insurance out of the kindness of their hearts?

Malcolm Butcher

(Monmouth)