MEMBER for Goulburn Pru Goward is seeking Premier Nathan Rees’ support for a proposed youth hub in the Southern Highlands.
Speaking in State Parliament this week, Ms Goward said the hub, initiated by the Berrima District Rotary Club, could help young people to use their energy in a positive way.
The Rotary Club, with the support of Wingecarribee Council, the Youth Council and Southern Highlands Business Chamber and other youth services, has formed a taskforce to investigate the proposal.
The hub could house youth community services, mentoring and welfare organizations, and be used for training, workshops, arts and live performances, exhibitions and skills development and a youth café.
“In a nutshell, it would be a hub of activity that would include not only activities to get involved in but organisations to help and support and to bridge the gap between home, school and work,” Ms Goward said.
Ms Goward said while the Goulburn electorate was a wonderful place to live, an adolescent or young adult dipping his or her toe in the world of independence would not necessary be so enamoured for life in a regional area.
“You will want transport to get you into town, and you will want somewhere indoors to meet your friends where you will not be told to stop making so much noise.
“The issue of transport, particularly local transport, has been raised by me many times before, and I have no doubt I will do so again.
“But the idea of a youth hub is a new one and could be the answer to many a young person’s lament, and in some respects it may address the shortage of local transport.”
Mr Goward said developing programs and services for young people, by young people, in an environment that is both safe and supportive, had to be a win-win.
“There is a street in Mittagong, in the Southern Highlands, in the middle of the electorate, that has long been the bane of many residents - called Sunset Point Drive,” she said.
“Residents have come and gone, some because they have simply moved on, others because they have been driven out by the constant vandalising of their property and thefts of their goods by children and young people in the street who apparently have nothing better to do.
“I know the Minister for Housing has been made aware of recent developments and I am hoping to speak to him later, but I cannot help wondering that if these young people could only focus their energies in a positive way maybe they would stop throwing eggs at people’s houses, smashing windows, firing pellets or stones at dogs and cats, or getting drunk and jumping on cars parked in the street.
“A youth hub might be part of the answer for them - not the whole answer, but part of it.”
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