Matt Cowley, elected to Tauranga City Council, blames the town's "brain drain" of young people partly on the frustration at not having a voice in the council.
"We lose a lot of our talented young people as they go off to university and start their careers."
Cowley, 30, wants to engage the younger people of Tauranga in the bigger picture and allow them to have a voice.
"A lot of young people ... can't relate to any of the councillors or the local body politicians so they don't engage within the processes and don't share their voice. We will look at setting up a youth council to provide those pathways."
Cowley, who won the Young Read Woudberg Tauranga Young Employee award last year, is familiar with the workings of council matters as a Policy Analyst on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
