TRIBUTES have been paid to an ‘enthusiastic and dedicated’ former district council chairman, following his death.
John Tretheway was first elected onto Malvern Hills District Council in the 1980s, where he represented the Wells Ward, before going on to be made chairman for the 1996/97 term.
He represented MHDC for more than 20 years and left the council in 2007.
Coun Roger Hall-Jones, councillor for the Priory Ward, said he first met Mr Tretheway on Cowleigh Road in 1965 before the pair were re-acquainted at the council about 20 years later.
“He was a very popular and hard-working councillor with a great knowledge of Malvern Wells and those he represented,” Coun Hall-Jones said.
“He was a good chairman of the council between 1996 and 1997 and was unfortunate in losing his seat in the elections in 2007.”
Current chairman Coun Barbara Williams, councillor for Martley, also paid tribute to a ‘very likable and well respected councillor’.
Mr Tretheway was also a member of the board of the Malvern Hills Conservators for almost 14 years, serving between 1996 and 2007.
During this period he was vice chairman of the board from 2003 to 2006 and chairman from 2006 to 2007.
Stephen Bound, director of the conservators, added: “He was an enthusiastic and dedicated member of the board, with a strong commitment to the preservation of the Malvern Hills.
“We were saddened to hear of his death and our thoughts are with his family.”
