Youth Action Plan event

​got the opportunity to attend the Youth Action Plan for Christchurch event organised by Youth
Voice Canterbury on 14 th December 2016. The event was held at the CCC function room to discuss
what need to be done to improve youth wellbeing and how to do it. Young people from different
backgrounds came to this meeting to share their opinion and thoughts with city’s leaders. At the
beginning of the event, we did some group activities to get to know each other. During the event,
everyone sat in groups with city councillors and Mayor to discuss the youth action plan.
In my group, two city councillors sat with us and we discussed about below topics:
 How City council can relate to youth
 Youth wellbeing
 Housing
 Public transportation
My group presented the idea to the councillors of having Youth Community Boards in every ward
like Spreydon- Cashmere youth community board. The city councillors were on board with the idea
and said they want to make it happen next year. It was a great idea to increase the youth
representation at the CCC and a great way for council to relate to youth.
Under youth wellbeing we discussed about the importance of keeping a well balance between
mental and physical health among youth. In addition, we also talked about the housing and public
transportation which are related to the youth wellbeing. Some of the suggestions we came up with
to improve youth wellbeing were,
 Open a youth centre with sport complex for young people to hangout
 Conduct workshops and Q&A sessions for youth
 Frequent meetings with youth organisations and youth representative from every ward in
Chch
 Well trained youth advisory group
 Quality and affordable housing to improve living standards
 Safe, affordable, and improved public transportation system
 Continues cycle lanes around the city
 Provide transportation to the proposed youth centre from anywhere in the city so every
young people have a way to get there
 Improve security at bus stops
 Make everyone feel safe and belong in the city
The event was a great opportunity for young people to have their say and share their vision for the
future Chch. This event showed young people that city’s leaders care about their opinion and willing
to work with them. It was a great encouragement for the youth and looking forward to many more
events like this to come.
By: Sasindu Anjula.