Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Nimrod Ping dies
Nimrod Ping, 46, a former Labour councillor, who joined the Green Party at the end of last year, has died suddenly.
A campaigner on LGBT social justice and environmental issues, he served as a councillor in the city-centre Regency ward and was about to be declared as a Green candidate for the Queen’s Park ward in next year’s local elections in May.
Trained as an architect in Cardiff and coming originally from London, he was one of Brighton’s first openly gay councillors in the 1990s. During his time as a Councillor he was an effective Chair of the Environment Committee on the former Brighton Borough Council and oversaw the successful regeneration of the sea-front area.
Nimrod Ping’s conversion to the Green Party did not come easily. At the time he said: “When Labour won national power in 1997, we were expecting change, but things have gone the wrong way. They are too right-wing and have an absolute disregard for people’s opinions. The Greens are working to sort out problems rather than create more and I agree with almost everything they say.”
He was a cultured individual whose knowledge of the arts was as deep as his appreciation of good architecture.
He suffered from a long term liver condition which forced him to step down as a councillor in 1999. Since then he became an active health campaigner, particularly in raising awareness of hepatitis C with the national charity the Hepatitis C Trust.
He was just embarking on a 25,000 word dissertation, which he had mused to friends with a twinkle in his eye might be an examination of the effectiveness of public squares in Brighton. The dissertation was to be the culmination of an MA in Urban Design which, remarkably, he was attempting to complete in only a year.
While he may not have been able to achieve his ambition of learning to punt while he studied at Oxford Brookes University, he indulged his passion for choral music while in the city.
In the short time since he joined the Greens, he had actively contributed to the Party’s thinking on many issues, but in particular affordable housing and the environment. He was relishing the prospect of hitting the campaign trail again.
He is survived by a brother who lives in Brighton with his two children.
Commenting, Green Councillor Simon Williams said: "This is devastating news. Nimrod will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. He was relishing the prospect of getting back into active politics and contributing again to a city that he loved and believed in. He had a remarkable intellect and was one of the LGBT community's most eloquent champions."
A campaigner on LGBT social justice and environmental issues, he served as a councillor in the city-centre Regency ward and was about to be declared as a Green candidate for the Queen’s Park ward in next year’s local elections in May.
Trained as an architect in Cardiff and coming originally from London, he was one of Brighton’s first openly gay councillors in the 1990s. During his time as a Councillor he was an effective Chair of the Environment Committee on the former Brighton Borough Council and oversaw the successful regeneration of the sea-front area.
Nimrod Ping’s conversion to the Green Party did not come easily. At the time he said: “When Labour won national power in 1997, we were expecting change, but things have gone the wrong way. They are too right-wing and have an absolute disregard for people’s opinions. The Greens are working to sort out problems rather than create more and I agree with almost everything they say.”
He was a cultured individual whose knowledge of the arts was as deep as his appreciation of good architecture.
He suffered from a long term liver condition which forced him to step down as a councillor in 1999. Since then he became an active health campaigner, particularly in raising awareness of hepatitis C with the national charity the Hepatitis C Trust.
He was just embarking on a 25,000 word dissertation, which he had mused to friends with a twinkle in his eye might be an examination of the effectiveness of public squares in Brighton. The dissertation was to be the culmination of an MA in Urban Design which, remarkably, he was attempting to complete in only a year.
While he may not have been able to achieve his ambition of learning to punt while he studied at Oxford Brookes University, he indulged his passion for choral music while in the city.
In the short time since he joined the Greens, he had actively contributed to the Party’s thinking on many issues, but in particular affordable housing and the environment. He was relishing the prospect of hitting the campaign trail again.
He is survived by a brother who lives in Brighton with his two children.
Commenting, Green Councillor Simon Williams said: "This is devastating news. Nimrod will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. He was relishing the prospect of getting back into active politics and contributing again to a city that he loved and believed in. He had a remarkable intellect and was one of the LGBT community's most eloquent champions."
