Programs for young people in response to the “law and order” public meeting held on June 13 have made good progress according to the report given to the August meeting of Tallaganda Shire Council by the Youth Resources Committee.

Five trips to the Goulburn Police Citizens Youth Club have already taken place, with as many as fourteen teenagers using the bus on one night.

Volunteer drivers and supervisors, together with the loan of the Central School bus, have made these trips possible.

PCYC activities such as boxing and weightlifting have been popular.

The mentoring scheme has been taken up by Braidwood Lions and its members are keen to undertake activities with young people, beginning with a barbecue and planning session with teenagers on September 16.

The chairperson of the Youth Resources Committee, Councillor Barry Waters, was pleased to be able to report that two different applications for a grant to employ a youth workers in the Shire are being submitted.

One application is through the Southern Area Health Service and the other is for a Community Development Officer through the Federal Government’s Regional Solutions program.

“W only need one of these grants to be successful so we can employ a youth worker,” Cr Waters said.

The Youth Resources Committee is pleased with the progress it has been able to make so far, and especially pleased that so many members of the community have come forward and offered help in many ways.

Its members feel that it is important that the community as a whole shares the responsibility of creating the right climate for young and old to live together.

Cr Waters said that the important issue now is to decide where the committee should go next. Suggestions about the avenues the committee might now explore will be welcomed.

Already a plan for bushwalking for teenagers has begun to be organised and the committee is happy to receive other ideas from the community.

Thanks are extended to the Central School and Constable Lindsay Wallace for their support, and to the members of the Committee, Cr Libby Collard, Gail Eastley, Bente Jensen, Jane Cullin, Alison Williamson, Michael McGrath, Tim Jonas and Rodney Grant and Cr Waters.