Youth council proposed for Rangitikei

Rangitikei District Council will vote on whether to fund a youth council at the end of this month.

Rangitikei District Council is considering installing a youth council.

The region doesn't have a youth council at the moment but the idea for creating one this summer has been proposed to councillors.

The council's Governance Administrator, Nardia Gower, told councillors Rangitikei was one of the quarter of all councils nationally that didn't have a youth committee.

"It's really about youth having a voice around the table," she said.

"On anything ... district plans or policies that might be coming up, especially ones that might particularly affect youth.

"Not everyone knows what councils are about and what that sort of civic engagement is about. We've got a lot of youth that are actually really interested in it that have already come to me."

The cost of the youth council would be $11,605 and Gower said she would ask council to contribute $10,000. Councillors will vote on whether to do that on Thursday, November 29.

The funding would go towards organising meetings, training as well as a three-day youth conference called Festival for the Future.

Gower said the youth council would also be a means of developing future leaders.

If it were to go ahead applications to join the youth council, targeted at young people aged between 13 and 24, would be sent out at the start of December.

They would close on February 1, 2019 and interviews with shortlisted candidates would take place later that month.

The youth councillors would then have a training weekend and an inaugural meeting in the middle of March, 2019.