Better infrastructure needed for regional communities to offset climate change impacts, says Havelock North Youth MP
Elenor Walsh is a Year 13 student who has been selected to represent East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick. She is a student at Woodford House in Havelock North.
By Emma Westenra, Youth Press Gallery, Youth Parliament 2025
Photo Caption: Elenor Walsh, Youth MP, and Dana Kirkpatrick, MP
Elenor Walsh is bringing the concerns of young people in her area to Parliament and is excited to be an advocate for her community.
Walsh is passionate about creating better infrastructure so that regional communities can be more resilient, and she is also concerned with the impacts of climate change on her community.
Cyclone Gabrielle hit the East Coast of the North Island hard in 2023, and many rural communities were cut off.
This made Walsh aware of the need for better infrastructure so that people are not cut off “in every big storm.”
Walsh has heard from young people in her community that there needs to be better education around climate change.
Additionally, some students are concerned that their schools don’t have recycling schemes.
Walsh has also been allocated to the Parliamentary Working Group on Housing. She has surveyed her community and found that a big concern is the lack of affordable housing.
She has also found out that people are worried about living in “leaky and damp houses.”
The slash from forestry is also a concern for people living in low-lying areas, as they are impacted when rivers flood.