Local Conservatives will be collecting signatures for their petition and handing out high-flying helium balloons to promote their campaign to Save Capstone Valley at this weekend's Kites over Capstone event (19 August).

Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Chatham & Aylesford, Tracey Crouch, local councillors and supporters will be at the event to raise the profile of their campaign to prevent Medway Magna building 9,000 new homes in the Valley. The number of signatures on the petition has now virtually equalled the number of homes that are being proposed and Conservative controlled Medway Council has said it will not sell any of the land it owns in the Valley for house building.

'There are enough Brownfieldsites in the Medway area to satisfy our housing needs, and we should be able to enjoy our countryside now, as well as protect it for future generations, without the threat of such development hanging over us,' believes Tracey.

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