Sir, – It is sad news that Bryan Sell has had to step back from his involvement in events in Farnham, because of ill health and advancing years. I have worked with Bryan for a number of years, and I would like to pay tribute to him as a remarkable man who has given a lifetime of service.

Bryan joined the Territorial Army before the war started in 1939, and was a soldier for 20 years, spending 16 of those years overseas. He is an internationalist and a committed European.

His achievements locally are many and varied: to mention just a few, he was one of the founders of Bells Piece; he founded the local branch of MENCAP; he has campaigned tirelessly for the new Farnham hospital; he was elected as a Farnham town councillor in 1991 and as town mayor in 1993–4, launched a clean-up project for the whole town which developed into "Operation Woolmead" and eventually the original scheme for improvement of the East Street area.

After retiring from the town council, he set up the informal group which launched the East Street regeneration initiative, and maintained his concern with the project for the next eight years, energetically harrying the authorities when he thought they were not making enough progress. He founded the Farnham Public Art Trust in 1995 and after many years as chairman is now its president.

As well as all this, Bryan has supported local Sports for the Disabled and Save the Children, and has organised charity collections for breast and prostate cancer. He and his wife Edith have personally helped many people who were in need.

It is particularly sad that now, after working for the East Street scheme for so long, Bryan has publicly stated his disillusionment with the current proposals. As a co-founder of the scheme with Bryan, I share his concerns.

Our aim in 1995 was to achieve a co-ordinated improvement of the run-down East Street area, rather than just to react to planning applications for individual sites as they came forward. Because there are few people living in the area who could be disturbed by late night activity, we saw a great potential for leisure activities of all kinds, both sports and arts, with a vibrant cafe society to attract young people. We imagined a vista of open space down to the river.

We never envisaged a development on the scale of what is now being proposed and that is why Bryan and I have both been involved recently in East Street Action, a group which is campaigning for the concerns of Farnham people about the density of the development and its implications for traffic to be taken into account. We want to see East Street regenerated and full of life, but not in a way which will overwhelm the rest of our ancient and beautiful town.

After all his years of active involvement and service to the local community, Bryan will be much missed. He deserves our thanks and our best wishes for a peaceful retirement.

Susan Farrow, Dippenhall, Farnham