Hastings youth councillors given voting rights on committees

In a controversial move, unelected Hastings youth councillors have been given voting rights on committees, after the mayor pushed the proposal over the line.

A group of 17 youth have been participating as non-voting member of sub-committees but asked to be more involved. At the moment, 15- to 21-year-olds who live, work, or go to school in the district can apply for the youth roles.

When put to the vote, half of the Hastings District Councillors who voted had opposed the idea, some very strongly. Among their objections was a claim the new policy was a breach of democracy.

But Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst's vote in support was the tie-breaker.

She told Checkpoint young people were switched on, already well-informed and involved and that they present an opportunity for strategic insight to help with planning for younger and future generations.

"They attend all the meetings, they know what's going on," Hazlehurst said.

"I just need to be quite clear that this isn't council - we have 15 elected members that sit at council for all the decision-making - these are subcommittees. But all of this decision-making goes back to the council from these subcommittees."

Hazlehurst said in some suburbs of the district more than half of the population was young people.

"We have great and dynamic, inspiring young people who are making a difference in our community.

"This is a way of looking at: how do we take our youth perspective and our youth voice and make sure that they have a say in what happens in intergenerational projects."

Those taking part in the youth council now are 17- or 18-years-old, including young people still in school and who had already left, she said. While 15-year-olds could join the youth council, Hazlehurst said they would not be on the subcommittees, but those rules had not yet been formally worked out.

"When I talk about subcommittees and standing committees, this is about strategy - so visionary thinking for the future. This is about district development, health and social enterprise, things like that - they're doing all that mahi now," Hazlehurst said.

She said the sort of work they might do was things like: "They might vote on receiving a report that shows the council's finances and intergenerational debt and performance and monitoring. They will vote on how we're recovering from our Cyclone Gabrielle and strategy - because they'll have families that are affected and they know exactly what's going on.

"They will vote on well-being and social development of young people - and making sure we have enough play areas, parks and things like that."

The youth who were already sitting on the subcommittees were not being paid, and had not asked to be paid now, she said. However council officers had raised the issue of payment, and it had been presented to councillors, but Hazlehurst said that had also not yet been decided.

"They didn't ask to be paid ... But we have heard from one of our youth council chairs from the year 2000, who was paid $130 to attend a meeting in the year 2000 - so this is not new."

The youth were already being mentored by senior councillors, and that would continue. And the already existing standard option of running for election to be on the council was already open to those 18-years and up.

"We want to have young people who are interested in local government, who will be elected in the future, and this is a away to be mentoring and to bring them through, and to understand that we want them in local government," Hazlehurst said.

She said the details about age limits and payment were currently being worked through with council officers, and would likely be put back before the council to be voted on at next month's council meeting.