THE Farnham Society planning committee held a lunch at the Bon East restaurant in Farnham recently to mark the retirement of Peter Bridgeman as chairman.

Mr Bridgeman has served the committee as chairman for two years and as a committee member for six years.

Under his guidance, the committee has spent countless voluntary hours reviewing the ever increasing number of planning applications for development within and around Farnham to ensure that they are in keeping with the character of the area of the town and in accord with the Farnham Design Statement.

His successor, David Howell, thanked Mr Bridgeman for his hard work and expressed concern at the high standards that had been set for him to replicate.

Sir Ray Tindle, as president of The Farnham Society, gave a thoughtful and humorous vote of thanks and the chairman, Alan Gavaghan also expressed his thanks to include all those present for their hard work protecting the interests of the residents of Farnham.

Present at the lunch were Sir Ray Tindle, town mayor John Ward, Janet Radley, Stewart Edge, Andy MacLeod, Cliff Watts, Carole Cockburn, David Howell, Zofia Lovell, Krish Kakkar, Mike Clements, Gloria Dyche, John Slater, John Williamson, Peter Bridgeman and Alan Gavaghan.