The town begins the new year with a new planning director, Gary Anderson, who had been a planner in Manchester, Conn. He has a master’s degree in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University. Town Administrator David A. Colton said the town sought a director with strength in long-range planning to spearhead the writing of a new master plan. Anderson’s wife, Sara, a Lutheran minister, attended Stonehill College. He succeeds Bradford Washburn, who is now assistant director of the state Office of Coastal Zone Management.