WATCH: If I was Mayor for the day ...

More firemen poles at parks, higher priced lollies, free buses for children, and ponies at every school.

These are some of the ideas that five and 10-year-old students at Ilam School in Christchurch would implement if they were given the chance to be Mayor.

With local body elections coming up in October Newsline decided it would be interesting to find out what some of the Christchurch’s youngest citizens would do if they were given the opportunity to run the city.

Dressed in the Mayoral robes and with the glint of power in their eyes, the students came up with some great ideas.

Ten-year-old La’ala’ai Tausa said if he was Mayor he would hold an annual cultural festival “for different cultures of the world to meet up’’.

“For school children I would reduce or make it free for students from primary or high school or intermediate to ride a bus to school to support public transport.

“I’d also probably improve the planning of the roads and pipeworks so we wouldn’t have to fix the roads over and over again.’’

If nine-year-old Annika MacDonald was Mayor she would put health and safety first.

“I would increase the price of lollies because they are bad for you and have too much sugar and I would decrease the price of fruit and veggies and maybe make white bread more expensive and make wheat bread and things that are healthier less expensive,’’ she said.

“I’d also maybe make this thing that could you put onto your car and you have to breathe into it to see how much you have [sic] drunken and if you have drunken too much you can’t drive and your car won’t start,’’ she said.

Annika’s classmate, Frances Liebert, 10, said if she was Mayor she would try and ensure Christchurch made more of solar, wind and hydro-electric power and less use of fossil fuels.

“I’d also try and host clean-ups and things all over the beaches and parks of Christchurch,’’ Frances said.

Five-year-old Nina Miyazaki said if she was in charge of the city would make buildings and playgrounds bigger so they could accommodate more people.

She would also add more plants to the playgrounds: “I like plants because they smell and you can pick them sometimes when they die.’’

Eddie Jefferies, also five, said as Mayor he would insist on having more firemen’s poles at playgrounds.

“We haven’t got very much firemen poles …. There needs to be more stuff basically,’’ Eddie said.

Lucy Knight, five, said she quite fancied the idea of being Mayor and would ensure there was no fighting.

“There can be ponies and rabbits at every school. All the children can ride the ponies whenever they want,’’ she declared.

• If you have great ideas about how you would run the city then maybe you should consider standing in this year’s local body elections. Nominations open on July 15 and close at noon on August 12. Candidates must be over 18 years old, a New Zealand citizen and enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll to stand for election. Information sessions for prospective candidates are being held tonight  and again on Wednesday, July 6 from 5.30 to 7pm on Level 1 of the Civic Offices at 53 Hereford St.  You can also get information online, by emailing or by phoning Christchurch City Council Electoral Officer Jo Daly on  03 941 8581.