Death Of Former Senior Planner

A former senior council planner, who was honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2005, has died following a long illness. John Greaves, OBE, retired through ill health at the end of last month as the Council’s Head of Planning and Building Standards. He was 58.

John, who lived in Drumnadrochit, is survived by his wife, Vivien, daughter, Emma, a son, Dan, and three grand children.

He moved from Norfolk/Norwich Joint Structure Plan Team in April 1973 to join Inverness County Council as a planner.

At the reorganisation of local government in 1974, John joined Highland Regional Council and was promoted to the post of principal planner before being appointed Depute Director of Planning in 1980.

Mr John Rennilson, Director of Planning and Development with The Highland Council paid tribute to John’s significant and lasting contribution to the Highlands. Two notable schemes out of many that John was involved with were the creation of the UK’s only coastal superquarry at Glensanda and the construction of Eastgate 2, Inverness, for which the Council received the Scottish Quality Award for Planning in 2003.

Over the years, John was an active member of the Scottish Society of Directors of Planning, particularly contributing to the work of the Development Control Committee. He also represented local government interests on Scottish Office and Scottish Executive working groups. Most recently he had taken a significant role on working up policies on flooding.

He was elected as a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute in 1980.

Mr Rennilson said: "John was a valued professional colleague who managed an important part of the Service across the Highlands for many years. He had the ability to get on with people, whether opponents or objectors, in a quiet but very efficient way. He will be sorely missed by all who came in contact with him and it is desperately sad that he did not live to enjoy a well-earned retirement."