Cllr John Garrett Dies After Long Illness

Published on: 29 Jul, 2014
Updated on: 29 Jul, 2014

Cllr John Garrett

Cllr John Garrett (Con, Lovelace) died on Saturday morning (July 26), it was announced in a council communication this morning.

In an email message, a council officer wrote: “I regret to inform you of the sad news that Councillor John Garrett passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning, having bravely fought a serious illness for some time. Our thoughts are with John’s wife, Marion and their family.

“Following National Service, John entered the family building firm where he progressed from the joiners shop to Group Chairman and Managing Director, becoming a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building and Architects and Surveyors Institute.

“He was elected to Wandsworth Council in 1982 and is a Past Mayor and Honorary Alderman of Wandsworth. During his time at Wandsworth, he was Vice Chairman of Leisure and Amenity Services and Establishment Committees.

“He played an active part as Wandsworth’s representative in the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority and past Master of the Worshipful Company of Firefighters. He was Chairman of Western Riverside Waste Authority and Chairman of Clapham Rail Crash Trustees.

“John was also a General Commissioner of Income Tax and Chairman of London S.W. Valuation Tribunal. He was a First Aider, President of St John Ambulance in Wandsworth since 1988, a Brother of the Venerable Order of St John and Knight Commander of St John of Jerusalem – Knights Hospitaller.

Cllr John Garrett dressed to carry out duties as Guildford’s deputy mayor.

“He was first elected to Guildford Borough Council in 2003 as councillor for the Lovelace ward. During his time at this Council, John served as Deputy Mayor for the 2011-12 municipal year but was unable to fulfil the demanding role of Mayor due to his illness.

“He was a member of the Planning Committee from 2003 to 2013 and served as Vice-Chairman of that Committee from 2007 to 2011. He was a member of the Licensing Committee from 2003 to 2011 and served on the Guildford Local Committee from 2007 to 2011.

“John also represented the Council on a number of outside organisations including the Hillers Charity, Surrey County Playing Fields Association, the Guildford Taxi Advisory Group and the Tenants Federation Committee.”

A by-election for a new borough councillor for Lovelace ward will now be necessary.

Responses to Cllr John Garrett Dies After Long Illness

Chris Ward Reply

July 29, 2014 at 12:16 pm

Very sad news. John was always very friendly and courteous, good fun too!

He rarely let partisan loyalties get in the way of doing what he thought was right and he was particularly helpful to me when I was first elected to GBC.

The council and borough are all the poorer without him.
Kevin Chaffey Reply

October 12, 2014 at 12:45 pm

I have only just seen this and am saddened. He was Mayor of Wandsworth at the time of the Clapham Junction disaster and I was Mayor of Poole. We lost touch over the years as we both moved away. He was a gentleman and always treated everyone with courtesy.