ONE of the youngest councillors in Preston is planning to set up a special youth group to try to get more youngsters involved in local politics.

Liberal Democrat Coun Alan Valentine, from Riversway ward, wants to set up a young people's council with the idea of getting those aged 11-18 to have a bigger say in Preston's decision making structures, and has launched a survey among high schools and colleges in the area to gauge support.

Coun Valentine said he felt not enough young people are actively involved in politics or use their right to vote, despite the wide range of issues that closely affect them and their futures. He referred to a similar youth council in Manchester consisting of 100 democratically elected people from 24 secondary schools. This has already debated a wide range of issues such as drugs, GM foods and traffic problems and there are around 20 other youth councils in different areas around the country.

"The idea of a Preston youth council is to provide the opportunity for youths to learn more about issues which concern them as they mature into adult life" said Coun Valentine.

"If there is good support for the plan I will organise a one-day conference later in the year and hopefully Preston Borough Council will give their backing" he added. The long-term aim of his plans is to achieve a balance between young people and senior officials in council structures, and he pointed out his feeling that people are becoming more interested in important issues at a much earlier age in today's society.

Leader of Preston Borough Council, Ian Hall, said he was more than happy to involve youngsters in local government: "It's great that people are interested whether they are eleven or 90 years old."

"The council regularly meets with the 'citizen's panel', which involves 500 people from all walks of life giving their opinions on how to tackle certain issues."

Mr Hall, however, said he hopes a youth council, if created, would represent not just the thoughts of people in schools, but also "those youngsters in society who have more acute problems".