Youth MP Wants Bus Routes Extended In North Canterbury

Thursday, 8 May 2025, 8:13 pm
Article: David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter

A North Canterbury youth MP wants buses to go beyond Rangiora, including adding Oxford to a bus route.

Rangiora High School year 13 student Simone Bisschoff has been selected as a youth MP by Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey.

Simone said she is keen to engage with young people as she develops a project to work on during her term as a youth MP.

She has narrowed it down to three options, advocating for bus services, more opportunities for driving lessons for young people and satellite campuses for Ara and the University of Canterbury in North Canterbury.

‘‘I will be going to schools through May and engaging with young people to see which one they see as a priority.’’

The Waimakariri Youth Council co-chair said the bus services had been discussed at youth council meetings.

‘‘Young people have expressed concerns about the times the bus runs,’’ Simone said.

‘‘It takes one to 1.5 hours to get from Rangiora into the central city.

‘‘And I want to see more bus routes added, because they don’t go much further than Rangiora.’’

Environment Canterbury (ECan) has plans to add more buses to the number one, Rangiora to Cashmere, bus route to increase the frequency, if it can get the funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Submissions made to the Canterbury Regional Public Transport Plan, which is due to be adopted by ECan this month, also called for bus services to be extended to Amberley and Ashburton.

Simone was born in South Africa, with her family later moving to Rangiora.

She plans to study law at the University of Canterbury and said she is interested in ‘‘doing something along the lines of politics’’.

Mr Doocey said he received a number of applicants for the youth MP role from Kaiapoi, Oxford and Rangiora, but Simone stood out.

‘‘She is a self-starter. She has some clear ideas of what she wants to do and is keen to hear from young people.

‘‘When I think about my own experience as an MP those are some of the key skills and attributes.’’

Simone will attend the Youth Parliament in July, where she will get to sit in Mr Doocey’s seat.

‘‘She will have a front row seat close to the Speaker’s chair and she will engage in a lot of Parliamentary activities,’’ Mr Doocey said.

While the Youth Parliament did not exist when Mr Doocey was younger, he said several of his Caucus colleagues had been been Youth MPs.

‘‘You never know, it could be the start of a political career.’’

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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