15 November 2021
Members of Norwich Green Party are deeply saddened by the recent death of Adrian Holmes who was a Green city councillor and a member of the Green Party since its inception. Adrian was a parliamentary candidate on a number of occasions in the constituencies of Norwich South and Norwich North.
Adrian was a member of Norwich City Council from 2004 to 2012, representing first Wensum and then Mancroft wards. Adrian was the Vice Chair of the Planning Committee and was always aware that “the biggest urgent issue is still the rise in man made CO2 emissions”.
A strong sense of social justice led Adrian to campaign against the poll tax and the Iraq War while he supported organisations which worked towards a fairer society and often rode in the Norwich Peace Cycle.
Adrian became a software developer, after originally working as a seismologist. He worked to promote renewable forms of energy, becoming a founder member of Norwich Community Solar.
Adrian will be remembered as a thoughtful colleague, always ready to cheer fellow activists with a story and a beer.
Members of the Green Party would like to share the following tributes.
Adrian Ramsay, Leader of the Green Party
I was really shocked to hear of Adrian’s untimely death. Adrian has been a stalwart of the Green Party and wider green movement in Norfolk for decades. His contribution was immense – as a councillor, campaigner, Parliamentary candidate and thinker. As a close colleague over a long period, he was always someone I would turn to for a sound opinion – and someone who represented the Green cause in a compelling, principled and grounded way. He earned the respect of everyone he worked with, from local residents, to fellow green campaigners, council officers and the other political parties, and that enabled him to make a real difference.
Adrian was also incredibly generous in his support for others and, even when he was very busy himself, would always take the time to keep an eye out for others. He was always very supportive of me and was one of the main people who welcomed and encouraged me into the party when I first joined, and then kept an eye out for me as a young member feeling my way in the Green Party and local politics. Indeed, Adrian was the first Green Party person I ever spoke to. Over the years, Adrian will have been the first Green Party person that many party members and hundreds of local residents spoke to – and I know that his down-to-earth, warm approach endeared him to so many.
I will miss him greatly, and I send all my best wishes to his loved ones.
Councillor Lucy Galvin
Adrian Holmes was indefatigable – and successful – in his efforts to save one of Norwich’s rarest pieces of natural landscape for the people of the city.
A woodland bordering the River Wensum on the northern side of Norwich, the 12-acre Train Wood, a County Wildlife Site, also features the start of Marriott’s Way, the 26-mile off-road path into rural Norfolk direct from the city.
In recent years treasurer of Friends of Train Wood and Marriott’s Way, which formed to successfully prevent Norfolk County council’s planned sell-off of the wood in 2013, he also played a major part in preventing the former railway line being turned into a road in the 1980s, when as he recalled an eye-catching billboard and an invitation to Norfolk county councillors to visit the site were successful in changing plans for a major trunk road along the former railway line.
As well as reliably fulfilling the role of treasurer since 2013, Adrian also regularly helped on litter picks, often transporting equipment in his bike trailer, and public events. Chair Maddie Goodall said: “Adrian went about his business in a quiet, effective, often humorous way – always there to help the wood. He will be sorely missed.”
