Corby Town councillor steps down to be with family in New Zealand

A councillor from Corby Town Council has stood down from his role in order to be with family in New Zealand.

Anthony Dady, a councillor for the Kingswood ward, has served in his current role since the council’s inception in May 2021.

Anthony’s parents, and several other extended family members, have moved to New Zealand over recent years so he felt it would be best if he joined them there.

Covid restrictions have made it difficult to enter the country, although at the end of July he finally obtained his visa and recently made the move.

Prior to the inception of North Northants Council, Anthony was a Corby Borough councillor for ten years and served as councillor on the North Northamptonshire shadow authority during its formation.

In addition to his regular councillor work, for most of his term as borough councillor he was also chairman of the council’s Local Plan Committee and vice-chairman of his party’s political group.

Anthony also spent several years as vice chairman of the Development Control Committee, moving to chairman of the Planning Committee when the town council was formed.

In addition, he served on the Northamptonshire Waste Unit and chaired both the Corby Town Centre Neighbourhood Plan Committee and the North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit.

However, Anthony will possibly be best known for spending two terms as deputy mayor and one term as mayor during his time with the borough council.

Once the town council was formed he was instrumental in setting up the role of town crier, a position he filled until his decision to step down from his council role.

Anthony said: “Being able to serve in the way I have has been one of the greatest honours of my life.

“I moved to Corby in 2008 when I bought a house in Hazel leys. I was hoping to make a difference in the community where I was living, but I never imagined I would have the amazing opportunities that I have.

“The people of Corby were immediately so welcoming and accommodating, making it such a pleasure for me to get involved and build relationships. I will miss this very much, although I will keep in touch with people and be able to hear about the good things going on in the town.

“It has been a difficult decision to leave as I have loved my time in Corby so much.”

Over the years, Anthony has served on the boards of Homestart, the Lighthouse Drop-in Centre and Beanfield Neighbourhood Centre, as well as being vice-chairman and chairman of Churches Together in Corby and District.

He became a director of the Electric Corby Community Interest Company when it formed more than ten years ago, and also joined the Board of Trustees of Teamwork Trust in 2015; both of these organisations have asked him to continue in his role, so he will continue to have connections with Corby and be able to be involved in helping the local community.

Leader of Corby Town Council, Mark Pengelly, said: “Anthony gave great community service to the townspeople in his councillor, mayoral and town crier roles and was involved in many community organisations who speak really highly of him. Anthony is well liked by all who meet him and became a good personal friend as well.

“We wish Anthony well for the future and look forward to hearing about what he is up to. Perhaps we will soon hear of Anthony being elected to a council in New Zealand and with Zoom etc we will be keeping in contact with him.”

With Anthony’s departure, there is now a vacant seat on Corby Town Council which must be filled.

Corby Town Council is set to advertise the vacancy on Friday (December 8) which is the date given by the monitoring officer at North Northants Council.

The notice will go up on Corby Town Council’s website as well as a public place, likely to be in the Corby Cube.

Once the notice goes up, if at least 10 people that live in the Kingswood ward ask for an election, and to do this they must ask North Northants Council, then an election will need to take place. If not then Corby Town Council can co-opt onto the council.

Details to follow once the advertisement goes live.