Our young leaders step up to guide the future

THE City of Greater Geelong 2022 Youth Council has been elected and again the city has a voice of the youth to help guide the future.

I’m sure we all remember times as kids and teens where we felt like our voice wasn’t being heard or considered as seriously as it could have been.

Feeling disengaged or as if you have a lack of agency doesn’t make for a content person at any age. Bridging that gap with young people by actually listening and getting them involved is key to ensuring they are engaged community members.

The Youth Council program has been a fantastic way of doing just that. Now in its fourth year, the Youth Council is Greater Geelong’s ‘official youth voice’ to the council, made up of 12 young people aged 12 to 17.

They meet regularly and provide a youth perspective on important issues to the council and recommendations on how we can tackle them.

Over the years, mental health awareness, equality and dedicated youth spaces have featured prominently as issues of importance from the group. Environmental issues and climate change have always at the forefront of discussions.

With a new year comes a fresh round of 12 youth council members to shake things up and represent the region’s youth.

I was particularly thrilled to meet 13-year-olds Isobel Rose and Sarah Tolan, and 14-year-old Ashlin Bobby, who will represent the Kardinia Ward, albeit via an all too familiar Zoom meeting.

But the message remains the same – don’t waste this time, lead at every opportunity and listen intently always.

The Youth Council has already had its first meeting where key priorities for the year ahead were nutted out.

Council is looking forward to hearing from the group through its quarterly reports and recommendations and collaborating with them on what matters most to them.

Indoor stadium update

Council has also started 2022 having identified the need for a six-court indoor stadium including a gymnastic hall and dance studio, along with supporting front of house facilities in the Armstrong Creek area.

The high demand for indoor sport and recreation facilities is fuelled by a young and a rapidly growing Greater Geelong population.

The stadium is proposed to be developed in three stages; Stage 1 includes development of four courts and front of house, Stage 2 includes development of a further two courts, Stage 3 includes development of the gymnastics hall and dance hall and studio.

The total cost of the project is an estimated $38.7 million with Stage 1 estimated to cost $24.7 million.

Works are now underway to seek funding, design and develop this community facility.

With council’s current commitment and history of building community infrastructure we are hopeful of seeing this come to fruition in the near future.

Energy efficient lighting

Another huge community infrastructure program council is undertaking is phase two of a project to convert all of the municipality’s 25,000-plus street lights to energy efficient bulbs.

One of the outcomes of the meeting that will have a significant effect on community safety and carbon emissions was Powercor being awarded a contract to replace 5,707 streetlights on main roads with LEDs and smart controls.

About 13,000 have already been switched over.

Being one of the largest upgrade programs of its kind in Victoria, it’s set to dramatically shift how much energy is needed to light streets by about 63 per cent – that’s a saving of more than 8660 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

This remarkable reduction goes towards fulfilling council’s sustainability goals when it comes to protecting the environment.

The year has started with it’s usual flurry of activity and none more so than children returning to school.

With Armstrong Creek now a hub of education facilities in place and all filling fast, it is great to see Armstrong Creek doing what is was designed to do: provide a great environment for all people, young and old, to live and enjoy for years well into the future.

Cr Bruce Harwood