Hastings youth making important decisions for the future of the district

The 2023 Hastings Youth Council has been confirmed and is comprised of 17 young people who will represent the district’s young people. Photo / Supplied.

Seventeen young people aged 15 to 21 from throughout Hastings have been confirmed as this year’s Hastings Youth Council.

Since 1986, the Hastings Youth Council has been representing the district’s young people, with councillors giving a youth perspective on issues and advocating for and implementing changes on behalf of Hastings’ young people.

This year’s youth council chairman, Osiris White Munro, a student at Hastings Boys’ High School, said the council was excited to work towards its goals for the year ahead.

Munro explained the youth council’s aim is to develop plans and strategies to address issues affecting our community, while promoting youth leadership and empowerment.

“We hope to strengthen our relationships with local organisations and community members, while also celebrating cultural traditions and values.

“We look forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead and are committed to making a positive impact on our community,” Munro said.

Hastings district councillor and youth council adviser Wendy Schollum said she was excited to work alongside and mentor the youth council again this year.

Schollum believes the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle has brought great loss but also great opportunities to our community.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rethink and reimagine how Hastings and the wider Hawke’s Bay region should look like and how we should live.

“Never before has the voice of rangatahi been so important. After all, it is their future that we will be sculpting in the months and years of recovery ahead,” she said.

The youth council adviser is excited to work alongside the diverse and passionate group of young leaders, who she has no doubt will ensure the vision of Hastings’ young people is baked into the Hastings District Council’s decision-making.

District councillor and Rural Community Board member Marcus Buddo will also work alongside councillor Schollum to support and mentor the Hastings Youth Council.

2023 Hastings Youth Council:

• Osiris White Munro — chairman
• Elijah Ioane — deputy chairman
• Lena Ormsby — chair adviser
• Isabella Bradley
• Calais Byrne
• Esta Chaplin
• Leo Guo
• Swarleen Kaur
• Antoni Milewski
• Nikki Mnyanyi
• Ekamjeet Singh Munjal
• Milly Petrie
• Chris Proctor
• Halo Siloata
• Bowen Steffert
• Monte Timu
• Lili Williams