Youth Parliament in Grantham - Grantham Journal Article 8 February 2008

Last Friday I went to the Grantham Youth Parliament, bringing together young people from all three sixth forms in Grantham – the College, the King’s School and K.G.G.S.

It was excellently organised by Bex Mezzo of the South Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service and held in the large and bright ‘Coffee Republic’ in the George Centre.

The object was to debate the future of Grantham. In the margins we spoke about most other subjects too.

There are always a few curmudgeonly people who complain about the younger generation (“selfish, irresponsible, undisciplined” etc). I wish they had been there. They would not have found more sensible, thoughtful, better mannered human beings.

As I had anticipated, most of these sixth-formers’ priorities for Grantham were the same as everyone else’s. They want to keep the hospital; they want a fuller range of shops including “flagship stores” in the town centre; they want a by-pass. They value the parks and river banks, the lovely parish church, the good communications (though there were serious complaints about school buses being systematically late, which I will take up).

But I had an unspoken worry throughout the debate. How many of these bright, motivated young people will still be in Grantham in ten or twenty years’ time? Will they wish to make their parents’ home town their own, and bring up their own families here?

Most of them of course don’t know. It all depends – partially on them and their career choices. But it also depends very much on the decisions that are being taken locally now by those in responsible positions – health authorities, head teachers and principals, the District and County Councils (and I congratulate the District Council for pursuing single-mindedly the Grantham growth project), myself and of course the businessmen and women whose investment or divestment decisions will determine the employment opportunities of the future.

I think we should all have a vision of the young people of Grantham before us in all we do.