The History of MYPP

The History of MYPP

Last Updated (Tuesday, 13 January 2009 19:55) Written by Iain Friday, 18 April 2008 17:56

Goodies or baddies?  After encountering vandalism or yet more litter, there is a tendency for the community to conclude that young people are a problem. It’s understandable but hardly fair to the great majority of young people who are law abiding and enterprising. Faced with this issue four years ago, Malpas Parish Council decided to go for encouraging the positives in young people. We wanted to see what would happen if we gave young people their head.

Malpas is 16 miles South of Chester and the largest  village in South West Cheshire. It is the focus for services over a radius of  about 5 miles. Some 5000 people live in the area with 1500 actually within Malpas Parish. It has a primary and a secondary school, the latter serving the whole rural area, even beyond the 5 mile radius. Despite expansion, Malpas has retained its character as a working village rather than a dormitory town.

With a vague idea about fostering “citizenship” amongst young people, the Parish Council joined forces with the two local headteachers for some brainstorming sessions. One flash of inspiration produced the idea of creating a Young Persons Parish Council. Another thought was to call a public meeting to assess what young people themselves might actually want.

The public meeting took place in May 1997. It was a lively affair, attended by 60 people, with about half being below the age of 18. The young people were very clear as to what they wanted: a safe place to meet socially but more of a drop in centre than a conventional youth club. A band of unsuspecting adult volunteers were nominated to create an organisation which could support the young people with their ambition. Spare land owned by the Fire Brigade, adjacent to the site of their proposed new fire station and quite near the local police house was soon identified as the optimum spot, especially as it was within the street lighting area and young people would be able to reach it on foot or by bike.

In September 97, we launched the Malpas Young Persons Parish Council (MYPPC). The deal was that the schools would handle the election of the young councillors but the Parish Council would pay for a venue and provide advisers. A  male and a female councillor, have worked with the young councillors ever since. Although the Young Council is not a youth club, we have been careful to follow best practice in affiliating it with the area Federation of Youth Clubs and with the County Council Youth Service and have been quite careful about issues like child protection. 

However, we try hard to keep the adult influences firmly in the background – this is not a puppet show arranged by the Parish Council. We must be reasonably successful as, when this year’s council was featured on BBC TV, the chairman said live to camera  “We get to do what we want to do.” 

The young councillors are elected for a year and must then submit themselves for re-election. They range in age from 10 (year 6) to 18. The year groups in schools each elect two councillors to represent them. We have tried to involve young people who are not at school in the village by allowing them to register and vote at the local post office, but this has so far not been taken up. Our original idea was that MYPPC should follow standard parish procedure so that voting would be limited to young people living in the Parish and councillors would need to live within three miles of Malpas. The plan now is to extend the franchise to match the practical catchment area for the young persons centre  (5 miles radius). Voting could be done in two wards: an inner, as now, and an outer ward. Meetings are monthly and the Chairman, who must be 15 or above, is elected by the young councillors at their first meeting. Minute taking is shared by the councillors. 

What do we find to do and how has it all gone? The Council’s biggest project is to get the Centre built. The first councillors did the original sketch designs and briefed the architect. Succeeding councils are taking an increasing role in monitoring and decision making to the extent that the adult committee providing background support for young people now reports progress to MYPPC, rather than vice versa. 

MYPPC have deliberately undertaken projects which give visible proof that young people do care about the community. They have painted a shelter on the Recreation Ground and renovated metal black and white railings on the outskirts of the village – that got them 30 seconds TV coverage on BBC’s Country File. A road banned to all vehicles, including  pedal cycles, has been redesignated to allow young people to use it as a cycle route to school, after formal representations to the County Council. There have been fund-raising events and, courtesy of the Youth Service, canoeing trips on the River Dee. Recently, MYPPC have been working on an audio history project by interviewing older residents about their teenage experiences. They have surveyed young people’s transport needs for Cheshire Community Council and are involved in a radical new scheme giving mobility to young people in rural areas.

MYPPC has become a recognised channel for consulting young people on any issue and is well respected in the area. Its activities have won two awards from the local newspaper. Thanks to a write up from one of our local policemen, last year the Home Secretary personally presented its Chairman with the Young Persons Award of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association and a cheque for £1000. That led to TV coverage of the young councillors in action with BBC Northwest Tonight – a challenging experience in itself. There are personal successes too, with young people starting rather timidly but learning to speak out at public meetings and make their points forcibly and successfully in adult circles. 

In summary, we have gone well beyond the experimental stage. Everyone sees this as a sustainable and important extension of local representation at a time when adult public life is greeted with so much cynicism. There is hope for the future after all!

E J Beak

Chairman

Malpas Young Persons Project