Senior council officers met this week with a group of six Marian College students for the first of what will become a regular series of `Listening Posts' at regional secondary schools.

Ararat Rural City chief executive officer Steve Chapple said the six year 12 students, aged 17 and 18, genuinely appreciated and relished the opportunity to be heard.

"It was a great experience to sit there and hear their stories and their thoughts on how their community could become a better place for them,'' Mr Chapple said.

The Marian College students who volunteered to take part in the Council Listening Post were drawn from across the region, including the Cathcart, Ararat, Glenthompson, Willaura and Deep Lead communities.

"It was a very relaxed session. We shared pizza and basically invited them to tell us what it's like being a young person in their community and what sorts of things would make their lives better,'' Mr Chapple said.

"One of their major issues was the lack of activities for young people after school and during holidays.''

Mr Chapple said young people from Ararat Community College had been invited to take part in last week's Ararat Futures Forum.

He said those students had added significantly to the forum's success, providing their own unique insights.

"The students we spoke to at Marian College this week said they would be very interested in attending a similar sort of summit designed especially for young people, and this is something we'll be looking into,'' he said.

In the meantime, Council officers would be inviting all regional secondary colleges to engage with Council via a series of Listening Posts during the year.

"My own view is that our young people are our future, so it's vitally important that we engage with them and hear what they have to say,'' Mr Chapple said.

"After all, they are the ones who will be living with the decisions we make today.''