Ideas as ambitious as making this district the outdoor education centre of the world, and developing the world’s most scenic mini-golf adventure, rubbed shoulders with suggestions for Facebook surplus fruit pages and improving social services, in the first round of the community-driven ideas platform Torokiki.

The community-driven ideas platform was launched by the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) as a “key initiative” to support COVID-19 recovery across the district.

The first round has now closed, and the council said it received positive support and engagement from the community.

The initial six week round involved three challenges relating to diversifying the economy, building community resilience, and reducing food waste and climate change. It generated 24 ideas, including proposals for an ‘Edible District’ and a ‘community wellbeing connection army’, and creating an Alpine City campus on Frankton Flats and moving Queenstown Airport to Tarras.

"The QLDC recovery team is thrilled with the level of support shown for Torokiki and appreciates the contributions made by our community in terms of sharing their ideas, feedback and votes in such an open and supportive manner," QLDC Torokiki lead Bill Nicoll said.

Bill said all the submitted ideas will be reviewed to assess their potential for progression. 

This may involve connecting idea raisers with a network of support or helping to identify funding to launch them for the benefit of the community. Once assessed, idea submitters will be contacted about their idea and advised of the next steps, he said.

"Looking ahead, we see significant potential for Torokiki to help enable a genuine movement of community-led innovation, which focuses both on the recovery from COVID-19 and on the broader challenges and opportunities that exist across our district," Bill said.

PHOTO: Financial Times