YAC calls for less isolated youth area

Feeling segregated from the community and ignored by the City of Rockingham has driven the Youth Advisory Council to petition for the foreshore redevelopment youth zone plans to be changed in favour of more inclusion.

The Change.org petition is calling for the City to reconsider its plans for a youth recreation "active node" in the northern precinct, near Wanliss Street, of the Rockingham Foreshore Master Plan.

The petition calls for the zone to be relocated within the Churchill and Bell Park family picnic area so all ages can enjoy it.

YAC member Alycia Barker, 17, said the group believed the node's location made teenagers feel like outcasts and, if it went ahead, would encourage antisocial behaviour.

"We feel the council has disregarded our concerns and won't listen to us," she said. Fellow member Georgia White, 13, said the plan made her feel as though she were a "nuis- ance" and "not part of the community".

"We don't just want basketball hoops or a skate park, we want something which is for everyone," she said.

According to the planning documents, the majority of survey responses, about 32 per cent, were from 40-54-year-olds, with those aged under 17 making up only 2 per cent of respondents.

Rockingham City Mayor Barry Sammels said there was no formal policy in consulting with young people and the YAC was not a formal council committee.

He said the City had received detailed submissions from the YAC and Junior Council during the public comment period.

The submissions outlined concerns for public safety, access, parking, shade, tourism and the environment, and called for the active node to be relocated, which was not adopted.

"The City regularly consults the YAC and Junior Council on a range of community matters," he said.

Alycia disagreed with the level of consultation and said it needed to be amped up when youth were concerned.

"These changes affect us - they're putting barriers up," she said. We welcome upgrades, but would like a focus on youth services too."

Baldivis resident Paolo Lipasana, a parent of three children aged 11, nine, and one, said he preferred that children be together and the plans did not adequately suit youth's needs.

Mr Sammels said the location had been selected because it did not contain any significant trees and for its high degree of surveillance and accessibility.

He said it met the criteria better than the proposed alternatives.

To sign the petition go to Petition: Integrate Youth Zone into Family area of the Foreshore Master Plan