Youth in Local Government

The South Waikato District Council is committed to the consultation process.  Besides being a requirement of the Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP), community representation is an important aspect of improving this process.  Strategies, facilities and decisions that involve young people are more likely to be effective, utilised and appreciated after talking with the youth.  Council will benefit through a better understanding of the issues and problems facing the youth in the District, if it involves them from the start.

The public consultation process of this year’s LTCCP gave the South Waikato District Council an important opportunity to involve youth on many levels.  One of the issues facing Council - the possible purchase of a Cinema 3 complex - was pertinent to youth and their involvement was encouraged in a number of ways.  A questionaire was sent to each of the District’s three high schools to establish how important the cinema was to them.  Their responses were collated into an official submission.

In addition, Council held a debate contest for the students.  Six students participated in the event, two from each of the three high schools in the District.  The yes and no teams consisted of one student from each of the schools.  The speakers were each given five minutes to present their case and then team captains were given a further two minutes to sum up.  The evening worked well and the students came up with solid and legitimate arguments for both sides of the issue.

Council also recently supported three students from the high schools to attend the Youth in Local Government Conference held in Dunedin during July.  The three students were accompanied to the conference by a Council staff member and a Councillor.  A verbal and written report was presented by to Council in August.