Tributes are paid to Earlsfield councillor
Cllr Knowles had battled with cancer and died yesterday. He was 58-years-old.
He was first elected to serve on Wandsworth Council in May 2006 when he stood successfully as a Conservative candidate in Roehampton ward.
In May 2010 he was again returned to the town hall by voters in the ward, which had been renamed Roehampton and Putney Heath following boundary changes.
In last May’s local elections, he stood in Earlsfield ward and was again elected to represent residents and businesses in that part of the borough.
Prior to his serving the people of Wandsworth between 2006 and 2015, he had been a councillor on Harrow Council for eight years.
In 2012 he was elected Mayor of the borough and in his mayoral year raised £40,000 for his two chosen charities, the Royal Marsden Hospital and Oak Lodge School in Balham which educates children who are deaf or have a serious hearing impairment. As the son of parents who were both profoundly deaf this was a worthy cause close to his heart.
He qualified as a maths teacher and later moved into industry first as an IT trainer and, then a training consultant. His fluency in British Sign Language led him to spend around ten years as an official Metropolitan Police and HM Courts interpreter before his retirement.
As well as being Mayor he served on many different council committees, most notably as deputy chairman of the licensing committee and of the adult care & health scrutiny committee. He also served on the housing, children and young people’s services, planning and transport and the planning applications committees.
Paying tribute, Cllr leader Ravi Govindia said: “Adrian was a thoroughly admired colleague whose qualities always shone out. He was a dedicated public servant who always did his best for those he represented and although his final months were marred by illness, he always remained cheerful and was a great inspiration to those around him. His loss will be hugely felt by all those who were lucky enough to have known him.”
February 25, 2015