Council goes bebo

Kids should have their say on Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint.

Have you heard of bebo? If you’ve got teenagers at home it’s likely that you have - and the team behind the Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint would like them to check out the Blueprint’s very own bebo site.

The site was launched as an innovative way to get young people talking about the project and what it means for their future.

A joint project of Thames-Coromandel District Council, Environment Waikato, Hauraki Whaanui and the Department of Conservation, the Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint is a long-term planning project looking forward to 2050.

Residents are being asked how they would like to see the peninsula develop in that time and the council has been visiting schools to promote the message to young people that they too can have a say.

A website has also been launched on www.coroblueprint.govt.nz  with a dedicated forum for young people.

TCDC Communications Manager Bernie Walsh says it was important that young people were involved in a project with such implications for their future, and bebo was another avenue for achieving the goal of getting their input.

There is also a competition running for kids to make submissions on the Blueprint by writing a short story or poem, creating an artwork, using photography or film. Details of the competition are on the blueprint website or TCDC’s website under coromandel peninsula blueprint.

“The bebo site can now be accessed by anyone but you must be a bebo member to be able to become a member/friend and leave comments,” explained Bernie Walsh.

Sam Stephens of Environment Waikato set up the bebo and is moderator for the site. “We’re really keen for it to evolve by young people getting on the site and feeling free to have their say,” he said. “The Bebo is just another way we’re trying to reach our young people and get them involved in a project that’s going to have a big influence on their future.”

Check out the blueprint bebo at http://www.bebo.com/CoroBlueprint