Former Uckfield town and Wealden district councillor dies
Former Uckfield town and Wealden district councillor Bob Sweetland died on Friday, November 4, after a seven year battle with leukaemia.
He leaves his wife of 45 years, Carol, two children and a granddaughter.
His funeral is due to take place on Wednesday, November 16, at Holy Cross Church in Uckfield, at 12.30pm.
Mr Sweetland was born in Cornwall and worked for the National Health Service in Estate Management as a program analyst. It was through the NHS that he met his wife Carol, a nurse. He worked for the NHS in Exeter, Kent and Sussex before retiring ten years ago.
Mr Sweetland played an active part in local affairs. He was involved with the fundraising and building of Ridgewood Village Hall and was also the founder chairman of Uckfield Millennium Green Trust. He remained a trustee until his death.
He was a member of the Liberal Democrats and was Ridgewood councillor for Wealden District Council from 2004 until November 2010 when he resigned due to ill health. He was deputy chairman of the North Wealden planning committee and visited all the sites on the agenda before meetings.
Mr Sweetland was also an Uckfield town councillor.
He was talented artistically and taught watercolour at evening classes. This skill came in useful when displays were designed for the Millennium Green.
On retirement as a hobby he used engineering, carpentry and wood turning skills to make bespoke replacement items for his Victorian property.
He was instrumental in the first Uckfield Festival being formed, in 2000, when he wrote to the Sussex Express saying, in effect, that Uckfield had little culture or community.
This spurred a small band of people to have a one-off festival for 2,000 which led to the annual festival held each July.
Members of the Uckfield Town Council plans committee stood for one minute's silence in his memory at a meeting on Monday, November 7.
Fellow Liberal Democrat and Uckfield town councillor Dorothy Sparkes described Mr Sweetland as a caring, honourable, upbeat person who did his best for his community.
Uckfield town councillor Jim Molesworth-Edwards said he was sad to hear of Mr Sweetland's death. "While we both agreed to disagree over politics I liked Bob very much and we worked well together."
Jane Clark, leader of the Libdem group on Wealden District Council said on the group's website that he fought hard for the residents of Uckfield to ensure the best development schemes that he could within the drive for more housing in Uckfield.
Cllr Clark said she would remember him "as a gentle person, a hard worker,even when undergoing quite difficult medical treatment, a lover of his allotment and a really nice person".
She added: "Our thoughts go to Carol, his wife, and his daughter and her family. He will be sadly missed by us all."
This story was updated on Monday, November 14, 2011.
See also:
Duchess of Cornwall becomes patron of East Sussex Youth Orchestra
Start date set for public inquiry into Wealden planning strategy
Uckfield teenager hopes to carry Olympic torch
(Added to site Wednesday, November 9th, 2011)
.jpg "Chance to raise planning queries with council officer in Uckfield")
