Pupils of Otago Peninsula schools experienced local government first hand, and had some good suggestions to make, during a "mock" community board meeting last week.
Held just before the Otago Peninsula Community Board meeting, at Portobello Bowling Club, the children’s meeting involved pupils from Portobello, Broad Bay and Macandrew Bay schools.
Facilitating the meeting, community board chairman Paul Pope assisted the budding young politicians to elect a chairwoman (Portobello School pupil Ida Ritchie) and deputy chairwoman (Broad Bay School pupil Vera Wainwright).
He then guided the children through the process of holding a meeting to discuss ideas and concerns for the community on Otago Peninsula.
Among the issues highlighted were the large number and size of tourist buses on the narrow "high road" from Pukehiki to Portobello, and a call for them to be banned. The junior board voted unanimously to send a letter to Dunedin City Council requesting action.
Also highlighted were well-researched concerns about the state of the harbour wall at Harington Pt, children’s safety at Macandrew Bay playground, the need to extend the footpath at Allens Beach Rd, the poor state of the footpath at Beaconsfield Rd, speed limits, overgrown trees and erosion.
Among the ideas for the future were a call for a beach slide and sun shelter, barbecue, the provision of bikes, skateboards and helmets for people to use, the need for cleanup days, more signage and refreshing a bus stop mural.
All three groups of pupils mentioned the issue of rubbish on the peninsula, to which Mr Pope suggested a Keep Dunedin Beautiful cleanup event could be in order.
At the conclusion of the mock meeting, Mr Pope congratulated the pupils on doing "a great job" in researching local issues and urged them to keep up the good work.
