A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Re: Keen to see youth councillor sit at the main table, Sept 17 story.
As a keen member of the Gisborne District Youth Council for the past three years, and the youngest local body election candidate for the City Ward at 18 years of age, I felt I must comment
on the “reintroduced” Youth Council. I have closely followed the review of its terms of reference this year. Like I said at the recent Community Development meeting, frustrations often drive politicians — my frustrations partly led me to stand to represent the youth voice and be a future-focused face for Tairawhiti.
I appreciate councillor Foster and councillor Dowsing’s comments. In some sense the Youth Council has been a success because they have driven a young person to stand, but the council should be inspiring youth through leadership.
The Youth Council, after this review, should serve its full purpose and be a youth equivalent of council. It should be consulted on with the current hot topics, it should be mentored by councillors, and for sure should be at the council table regularly — if not councillors at its table as well.
I have read the draft terms of reference and feel confident that we can make it work better than before, however I do not agree with the current draft age limit of 13-18. The proper definition of youth is 12-24, which is a popular model for Youth Councils across New Zealand.
