They said a flexible model, not bound by legislation, would also allow exploration of a new approach to decision-making and civic engagement.
Whanganui's youngest councillor, Josh Chandulal-Mackay, began his political career as a youth committee member and continues to support the current members with a seat at the table on the current committee.
"I had strong reservations about changing the model," he said.
"I had been quite wedded to the existing model but I can see the wisdom of making it more accessible."
Discussions with youth committee members had revealed that the strict framework dictated by the LGA was rigid and could not be readily adapted to meet the needs of a diverse group of members.
The current youth committee will be disestablished and under the new, flexible model, the appointment process would change, to involve the council's mana whenua partners, who would be invited to appoint representatives.
Under the new model, the youth committee will become the youth council (with a name to be decided) and the membership will include one councillor (Chandulal-Mackay), 14 young people and four additional representatives from mana whenua partners.
The format of meetings will remain essentially unchanged with agenda, decisions by majority, and minutes to record outcomes. It will also allow for quorum numbers to be proportionate to current membership if members should resign during a two-year term. A quorum at each meeting will be half the membership or a majority if there is an uneven number.
Chandulal-Mackay said if there were committee members who might wish to follow in his footsteps and enter local body politics in the future, they would still have options to learn about the more formal aspects if they were interested.