Rianna DSouza, an independent representative for St Ives South, won the seventh seat available on May 6 with 927 votes, and already has plans for the town. I couldnt believe it. I was in shock, she told The Hunts Post. Its a bit of a blur and its gone so fast. There are so many ideas I have. I want to bring the town together. Councillor DSouza, who studied at Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, took an early interest in politics and decided to get involved after meeting serving councillor Daniel Rowe while working at Budgens in the town. I was studying A-Level politics and always had a massive interest in it, she said. I wanted to know more and help out more in my community and to benefit the people and make changes. Next thing I was already debating whether to go for town council as I wasnt sure if I could do it. I decided not to go to university and Cllr Rowe roped me in and I thought, Im going to do it. Its a bit of a blur after that. From there, Cllr DSouza joined the junior rotary club in St Ives, and now has plans to deal with street lighting and road safety in the town. I want to lobby and push to be able to have better lighting. Thats my main focus. Its a concern of mine because it can cause accidents and now Ive been elected I have a better understanding of the environment around me and the people of St Ives, and I want to do the utmost to make the changes that I can. And shes determined not to let her age get in the way. In fact, Cllr DSouza says more youngsters should get involved in their communities. I didnt think about my age when I started but then I realised that everyone was saying Youre only 18, but its good because theres a whole age group of adults I can probably represent. Even if a young person isnt going to stand, I definitely suggest they try canvassing. You meet people in the local area and you feel like youre invested in your community. Ive written down everything everyone has said to me and I want to try and feed that back.