The passing of our Wish Ward Councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn this week has caused great sadness to many across the City.

Cllr Peltzer Dunn died at the Royal Sussex County hospital on Wednesday aged 79, surrounded by his family, following a very short illness.  Just the week before, Garry had been at his desk working on Council matters – as he had done year after year since he was first elected onto the Hove Borough Council in 1971.   

His death therefore came as a shock to everyone and tributes have been pouring from across the city for a much loved man who has been described by almost everyone as ‘a gentleman’ and ‘unfailingly kind’.

Cllr Garry Peltzer Dunn served as a Councillor in Hove over an incredible timespan of 50 years, standing for the Conservatives in 15 consecutive local elections between 1971 and 2019, first on the Hove Borough Council and then later Brighton & Hove City Council following the unification of the boroughs.

He was elected on 13 of those 15 occasions, representing the Vallance Ward (1971-1995; and 1999-2003) and then later the Wish Ward (2003-2022), both in Hove.

His time as a Councillor spanned three major reorganisations of local government in the area:  First the splitting of Hove Borough Council from East Sussex County Council to become independent entity; then the combination of Brighton and Hove boroughs into a single authority; and finally the full unification of Brighton & Hove City Council, 25 years ago now.

Garry rose to take on the most pre-eminent role at Hove Borough Council, serving as the Leader of the Council over two consecutive two-year terms between 1987 and 1991.  He received many plaudits for the job that he did.  In his recent interview with Latest TV, Garry proudly explained how he managed to run Hove Borough Council with a zero local rate for three years, operating the council entirely within the local support grant.  Following his leadership, Hove Borough Council was in a very financially strong position, with £8 million in cash reserves.

For this reason, Garry was highly sceptical of the merger of the Brighton and Hove boroughs, which he said would disadvantage Hove, being one of only two councillors on the Hove Borough Council to vote against the merger (the other being his colleague Cllr Rowe), even travelling up to Westminster to lobby against it.  He was deeply concerned that the strong financial position of Hove would be swallowed up by the more debt-laden Brighton borough upon merging, which ultimately proved to be the case.

He never lost his love for his beloved Hove, where he had lived from the age of six, and would always be the first to remind the Council if something was ‘Hove Actually’. 

When unification inevitably came, Cllr Peltzer Dunn managed to save several of the ‘welcome to Hove’ signs from the scrap heap and one such sign is to this day proudly fixed to his garden shed. 

Amongst all the tributes that have been paid to Garry in recent days there are a couple of themes that stand out more than any other:  How he treated everyone with respect both inside and outside of the council chamber; and his sparkling sense of humour.  He always said of council debates that he ‘preferred the rapier to the sword’ and he would often bring his opponents undone through his skilful speeches and debating skills underpinned by his strong knowledge of the council’s processes and procedures.  When he was in full flow it was a dazzling sight to see.

Garry was endlessly generous with his time to his constituents and his colleagues.  He was traditional in his approach and his constituents would know they would be welcome to knock on his door with any problems.  He always gave his newer councillor colleagues the benefit of his wisdom and experience.

He was a true gentleman and someone I took counsel from.  I always used to describe him as my wise old owl.  If I had a tricky problem, I would always turn to him for his advice.  He was always very precise in his analysis and he often saw things that others didn’t and if anything needed doing he was often the first to ask if he could help.

His ward colleague Cllr Robert Nemeth has said the Wish ward community will feel his loss, paying tribute to a true gentleman with impeccable manners and a wonderful sense of humour.

Garry was elected Leader of the Conservative Group on a number of occasions and also served as Deputy Leader.  He served as Mayor from 2008-2009.

His loss will be felt by the many people who came to know him in this city both through his professional life as a Surveyor and though his half a century of work as a local councillor.

The thoughts of everyone are with Garry’s family at this time including his wife Chip.

This tribute to the late Cllr Garry Peltzer Dunn was written by Conservative Group Leader Cllr Steve Bell and published in The Argus on 1 October 2022.