Media Release

2 May 2013

Youth Isolated In Unitary Plan Consultation

Young people across Auckland have been isolated in the draft Unitary Plan consultation process, despite messages from the Mayor claiming he is delighted at the level of youth engagement on the draft Unitary Plan, says newly appointed Manurewa Local Board Member Simeon Brown aged 22.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown put out a statement this afternoon saying he is ‘delighted with the level and quality of input from young Aucklanders in the council’s public engagement on the draft Unitary Plan’.

“While the Mayor might be delighted, young people are being isolated,” Said Manurewa Local Board member Simeon Brown.

“I am yet to see any engagement from Auckland Council with young people which goes beyond a social media campaign and a video competition. All other youth engagement has been organised through other organisations like the Manurewa Youth Council which did an incredible job in bringing 100 young people from around Manurewa together to discuss and debate the plan and its implications on Manurewa.

“My generation is the generation which will ultimately pay for this plan. My generation should be at the forefront of the consultation on this draft plan.

“While young people can be engaged in a number of ways, nothing is better than face to face discussion and debate and I would argue that this plan is too important to simply rely on social media to engage young people.

“Auckland Council still has 29 days left before the deadline for ‘feedback’ to be submitted on the draft Unitary Plan and it would be my hope that before then, regional wide forums aimed at bringing young people together to debate the future of our city will happen.

“Alongside these concerns, the fact that only 1272 ‘feedback’ forms were received by the 24th of April after over a month of engagement on the draft plan points to a lack of engagement across Auckland.

“Young people are coming to understand that the Mayor's draft Unitary Plan provides nothing for them, the denial of housing choice and the prospect of being tenants in their own city under the 'compact city' model. The draft Unitary Plan is a recipe for driving more people to pursue a life for themselves in Australia, not Auckland." said Mr Brown. 

ENDS

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