NEW Farnham Society chairman Dr Gordon Harris is unlikely to have a quiet time during his three-year tenure.

A resident of Farnham for 30 years and member of the society for 10, Dr Harris takes over from Ronnie Broughton with the society certain to be heavily involved in the consultation over the long-awaited re-development of East Street.

Dr Harris (69), of Upper Hale and the husband of former town mayor and current Liberal Democrat town councillor Joan Harris, told The Herald: "The society remains committed to preserving the beauty and dignity of the town but that doesn't mean good development can't take place.

"We support what's in the development brief for East Street and that whatever is built should be complementary rather than in competition with the rest of the town."

Dr Harris, whose doctorate is in mathematics from University College, London, retired from the civil service in 1993, having been responsible for a group within the Ministry of Defence Central Staffs providing scientific advice on research and procurement options for air systems.

He previously worked in Farnborough in what he calls "the materials and strictures area" and was associated with the early uses of carbon fibres, particularly in helicopters.

Dr Harris was unanimously voted chairman in an uncontested election at the society's annual general meeting last month, and is likely to serve three years, though, in exceptional circumstances, past chairmen, including his immediate predecessors, Ronnie Broughton and Mary Nevile, have served four.

"I've been in Farnham long enough to remember the redevelopment that took place in the late 60s and early 70s - the appeal for the Redgrave and the Maltings and the building of the sports centre - and it seems like a lot of it is coming round again," he said.

p Dr Harris is pictured with the outgoing Ronnie Broughton outside the Maltings, which was secured for community use in the late 1960s following a public meeting called by the Farnham Society.