Hurunui District Council has voted in favour of an amendment to the Youth Council’s Terms of Reference that will strengthen inclusivity in youth representation.

At last week’s meeting, councillors supported amending Section 3.4 of the terms of reference to include “Employed young person” and agreed on the age criteria as being “up to 24 years”.

The current terms of reference do not include employed young people.

Youth Council member Will Grant (17) has welcomed the move.

Will, who is studying through Te Kura, works as a lifeguard at Amberley Pool and is waiting to hear on his application to join the Royal New Zealand Airforce as Military Police. He believes his wider experience out of school, in roles including social media moderator for the communications platform Discord, gives him exposure to a wide range of young people and their views.

“I feel I can bring a different perspective to Youth Council to others who are still in school,” Will said.

Hurunui District Mayor Marie Black said councillors supported the amendment to strengthen balance in youth representation and build youth capacity. “We want to grow our leadership from the bottom up,” said Mayor Black.

Jo Sherwood, Hurunui Youth Development Officer, said the intent of the amendment was to acknowledge the different perspectives that youth in employment bring and their value in supporting the district’s young people with transition to work or further study under the Youth Strategy’s Future Focus initiative.

“Our Youth Council membership have promoted this amendment as a vital means of ensuring balanced representation,” said Jo.

The voice of young people still at school will continue to be ensured as the terms of reference stipulate membership from each of our district’s schools, said Jo.

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