Sir, As a person born and bred in the Vale, I must object to the destruction of Green Belt in the principle that is proposed.

I am not a nimby, as some of the proposals such as the airfield site in Grove make sense, but the basic fact is once countryside is built on, it is gone, it cannot be reinvented.

There are a million empty homes in this country, with the Harwell site being a local case in point. Why are we not being innovative about housing needs and using some of that refurbished along with the rejuvenation of market towns and cities by building housing and flats in them instead of encouraging urban sprawl?

In my book, the party that realises this would fill our empty shops and make our towns and cities better places to live again gets my vote.

Building a “garden city” would destroy the rural nature of the Vale overnight and forever ruin the area to which I belong and have loved all my life.

Mark Fysh

Whitecross

Abingdon