Searching for the youth vote

TOWN chiefs are taking politics to the youth generation after posting a clip on internet video site YouTube.

As part of the debate around the shake-up of local government in Suffolk, Ipswich borough Council has posted a video on the website in a bid to stimulate discussion.

Featuring Andrew Cann, leader of Ipswich's Lib Dem group, the short piece, titled Politics on the Prom, discusses the merits of a unitary council involving Ipswich, Felixstowe and the Shotley peninsular.

Mr Cann said: “I think it's important to communicate our ideas in as many ways possible.

“The more different ways we communicate the better.”

Leader of Ipswich council Liz Harsant said she feels the clip shows the authority is taking a modern approach.

“I think it's fun. Younger people might look at it and think it's interesting. Maybe it will make people think that they can be a councillor, that it is not all about sitting in meetings. Any means of communication in this modern world is fantastic.”

Boundary chiefs are proposing a new south Suffolk authority which would extend from the Orwell/Stour estuary to the Deben estuary.

It includes the Shotley peninsula as far west as the A12 - including the villages of Capel St Mary and Stratford St Mary as well as Bramford, Sproughton, Claydon, Barham and the Blakenhams.

The rest of Suffolk will be governed by a second authority apart from Lowestoft which would be incorporated in a super council covering the whole of Norfolk.

The issue is currently undergoing a public consultation.

Do councils do enough to engage with youngsters? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Click here to watch the video