I empathise with Joe Messina (‘Early start’, June 1) because even my wife and I, both elderly, have been the victims of unwarranted so-called development that robbed us of the peace and quiet of our ground floor maisonette when two floors were built above us.

This meant excessive noise, even at siesta time, dust, interruption of the telephone line, a leaking roof, a damaged archway, unauthorised work on a public holiday, violation of our privacy and slipshod construction methods, such as when a concrete brick weighing a kilo fell into our backyard.

The architect only called on us once, just before the work started. He was then conspicuous by his absence, only turning up when we came home one morning to find our reception area littered with broken stone from a cracked archway. Some of the workmen were arrogant too.

The developer, who I courteously approached before the work started, did not even have the decency to tell me what he would be building over our heads, only saying curtly that he intended to widen a staircase leading to the first floor.

Above all, building two extra floors in a residential area, taken for granted over many years as a place where two-storey buildings were the norm, has devalued our property and robbed us of much sunlight in our yard.

It was a nerve-shattering time that goes to show that indiscriminate and unnecessary building construction without strict supervision and support for long-term residents is nothing but a scourge.

Our sad story is surely one of many, many others like it. Does the Planning Authority or anyone else care? Or is it a matter of that wise adage: might is right?