The new Invercargill mayor wants to bring youth closer to his council to ensure long-term vibrancy in the city.
Nobby Clark said local bodies across the country were facing a challenging time to engage with young residents aged between 18 and 30 who were usually not involved in local politics.
Invercargill was no different in that respect — but he believed something could be done to understand what this group of the population wanted for the future of their city.
"Everywhere you go there is a challenge around the youth. They usually don’t vote in local body elections because they are not interested in buildings and Three Waters pipes and stuff like that.
"They also don’t take part in consultations or meetings ... So we need to find what is in it for them. If they don’t go to the council, we will need to go to them."
He said the Invercargill City Council was focused on bringing vibrancy to the city and, to achieve that, it was paramount to have feedback from those young residents.
With this in mind, the council will host the first of a series of events this month with the aim of listening to the youth voice.
On November 25, Mr Clark and multiple city council staff will be hosting an activation at Invercargill Central to engage with the youth, from 9am-9pm.
"People keep saying there is no vibrancy here. So, well, what is vibrancy?
"We will have council people at the mall to catch up and engage with the young people. The idea is to have one-on-one conversations to understand what they like at the city centre, what they don’t like, what we could do to make the CBD more vibrant."
Mr Clark had observed many youths spending the weekend doing laps in their cars around city centre streets, but he believed if they had a space to socialise, this behaviour could be different.
"I don’t know what youth want to do. When you come out on Friday or Saturday night, it seems they are just up and down the street with their cars.
"Other cities have places they can hang out. Could we cover Wachner Place? Could we have a big screen outside a building for them to watch sports or concerts? A place for them to bring their takeaway food and have a drink? We want to hear from them."
Mr Clark said he also wanted to promote an event at the Southern Institute of Technology at the beginning of next year with the same aim.
"To set vibrancy for the future of our city, we need to understand what is vibrancy for them, who are the future of our city."
