The scrapping of Ashburton's Youth Council shocked its members, who just recently were busy planning next year's work.
But councillors say they can get better engagement with young people online, with one describing the current youth council as “a youth club where they ate pizza”.
At a recent council meeting, councillors voted to disband the youth council, which first started in the late 1990s.
It is shifting its focus to digital engagement, and the annual Ashburton Youth Forum will be resurrected.
Maddie Page, 16, has been on the youth council since 2020.
She was surprised to learn via email on Thursday that the council had axed the youth council.
"There was no discussion around the youth council not continuing so it was really surprising.”
Taking it digital is a step the council has chosen to make, and whether it is the right direction is a matter of wait and see, she said.
Democracy and engagement general manager Toni Durham said the council will use an online engagement tool, which is something a lot of councils are moving towards.
“We feel we can reach a broader cross-section of our community and have perhaps better early conversations rather than just relying on the consultation process.
"The digital option provided the ability to “talk to a wider group in a more bespoke way”, rather than set meetings that require attendance, Durham said.
The other aspect is a return of the annual youth forum which Durham said is a day for the council to engage with youth representatives and students from local schools.
Councillor Lynette Lovett felt the youth council has “done its dash and we need to reinvent it into something different”.
One of the elected members attached to the youth council, Phill Hooper, described it as being “a youth club where they ate pizza” and supported the change.
“I think we can get enough thought and direction from (youth) online."
Deputy mayor Liz McMillan felt there needed to be more than one face-to-face meeting per year.
McMillan wanted to use the $45,000 in the youth council reserve fund to run extra youth-focused workshops each year.
It didn’t get enough support from the other councillors, who felt the digital approach would be sufficient in capturing the youth voice.
Councillor Carolyn Cameron felt the youth “are comfortable working in the digital environment” having adapted to it over the last few years through the Covid-era.
The budget for the youth council was $12,000 per year, which is no longer required.
By Jonathan Leask
Local Democracy Reporter
