Community & Business
18 December, 2024
Youth Summit workshop
The second community consultation relating to the Gilgandra Shire Council’s innovative Youth Summit kicked off recently, with a workshop for local businesses, community sector organisations, sporting groups and others.
By Sharon Bonthuys and Nick Croker
Led by Dr Jenny Thompson from the Institute for Regional Futures at the University of Newcastle, an academic whose research specialisation is the civic engagement of young people, the Youth Summit seeks to inform the development of the council’s proposed youth strategy.
Recognising that youth will play an important role in shaping the future of the region and the council’s ‘Towards 5000’ vision, earlier this year council embarked on the creation of a youth strategy within its broader Gilgandra Region Community Strategic Plan.
Community consultation
The Youth Summit workshop on December 3, was attended by about 25 people of all ages and backgrounds, who provided valuable feedback about the current situation for local youth and what they would like to see in the future. Dr Thompson’s 11-month project started in June and will be completed next May with a draft strategy and action plan developed for council, and ultimately, shire residents’ consideration.
Right now, Dr Thompson and her team are continuing to gather feedback from local consultations to inform the development of the youth strategy.
The first community consultations took place in October and November, with additional consultations planned for the new year. This will include gathering First Nations’ perspectives, as well as sessions directly with schools and youth focus groups once the relevant permissions for working with young people in those environments have been obtained, Dr Thompson said.
“At a high level, the aim of the strategy is to improve outcomes for young people across the Gilgandra region, by identifying initiatives and activities to address their needs (educational, employment and careers, health and well-being, social, civic) and foster their participation, belonging and connection to community,” Dr Thompson told The Gilgandra Weekly.
“The youth strategy will provide a set of objectives, priorities and actions for council to pursue, that have been designed in collaboration with the local community,” she explained.
“This includes the council acting as an advocate, linker and enabler with other levels of government, local businesses and community organisations, as well as its activities in direct delivery of infrastructure and services.” Dr Thompson updated workshop with recent activities undertaken as part of the project. “We had a councillor briefing a couple of weeks ago to make sure that the new councilors are part of the story, and work with us on developing the strategy and action plan,” she said.
“We've also had wonderful ‘word clouds’ happening in our library … where young people are encouraged to come in, particularly children, and to answer a different question,” Dr Thompson said. “We've had some fantastic responses. One that's memorable for me was [a recent] one where [the question] was, ‘what do you like to do on the weekend?’ And [the response] was something like ‘play cricket and flog the other team’, which I thought was really quite delightful,” she added.
Local feedback appreciated
Dr Thompson appreciated Gilgandra residents attending the summit at this busy time of year. “The people who attended had some really positive things to say about life in Gilgandra and the nurturing environment the township provides for children, young people and families,” she said.
“There was also positive commentary about the role of council, with services such as the youth centre receiving praise,” she added.
“At the same time, the community members at the Summit also shared their thoughts on their aspirations for young people, in employment, social life and education and the challenges they see young people face in accessing the opportunities, services and supports they need to make the transition from childhood to successful adulthood,” Dr Thompson concluded.
Still time to complete insights survey
Council encourages the community to contribute to the development of local policy and strategy through its 2024 Community Insights Survey. Mayor Doug Batten says the council would appreciate the community sharing their open and honest feedback on the facilities and services delivered on their behalf.
"[Since 2021] there has been much progression and changes in our region following impacts of drought, floods and pandemic have left deep imprints on how we live our lives,” mayor Batten said.
“This insights survey and upcoming consultations, planned for early 2025, aim to understand what the community values most about living in the Gilgandra region, the strengths they recognise in our community services and facilities provided by council, and how they think we can build on these to address the key challenges and opportunities facing our region now and into the future,” he concluded.