Tributes paid after Telford councillor dies, aged 61
Tributes have been paid to Telford and Wrekin councillor Dave Davies, who has died aged 61.
Councillor Davies, ward member for Ironbridge and a former council leader, died on Sunday after a long illness.
He is survived by his wife Pauline, children Lucy and James and two grandchildren, Charlie and Ollie.
Telford &Wrekin council leader Kuldip Sahota paid tribute to his "great friend", who worked "tirelessly" to make a difference in the borough.
He said: "Councillor Davies had fought his long illness with a great courage and dignity.
"It was typical of Dave that despite his illness and treatment, he continued to play a very active part in the life of the council, for example serving as speaker in 2013-14.
"Throughout his time as councillor he worked tirelessly to make our borough a better place, improve the lives of everyone who lived here and to promote Telford and Wrekin, because he wanted to make a difference.
"Yes, we have lost a great friend and the borough has lost a great ambassador, but without him I doubt this borough would have achieved as much as it has in recent years."
First elected as a ward member for Madeley to the then Wrekin Council in 1991, Councillor Davies was re-elected in 1995 and in 1997.
He served as council leader in the late 1990s and after a four-year break from the authority was elected as member for Ironbridge in 2011.
As well as Leader, the council positions he held included the speaker's role until this May, chairman of the plans board and chairman of the Audit Committee.
He moved to Telford from Yorkshire with his family due to his job as a programmer for the Inland Revenue in the mid 1980s.
His role with the Inland Revenue saw him serve on the national executive of civil service union IRSS.
Councillor Frances Bould, ward member for Dawley Magna, said: "I'm really sad about the loss of Dave.
"He will be a great loss to the Labour party and we shall all really miss him."
Councillor Davies was also the council's representative on the Local Government Association's world heritage site special interest group and the Ironbridge Gorge world heritage site strategy group from 2011.
He also sat on the Severn Gorge Countryside Trust in 2012/2013.
