Days left to offer best ideas

THE second-ever Ballarat’s Best Ideas competition has crowdsourced hundreds of positive and constructive suggestions for the city since last month, and will close at the start of next week.

Co-founder of digital suggestion box platform Suggest it Nick Clare said about 80 to 85 per cent of responses have come from locals, while many visitors to the community over March and April, particularly during the Begonia Festival, have also shared their thoughts.

“Those numbers are up on last year, and we’ve also seen a big uptake in younger people giving ideas for the local community and businesses, so that’s been really encouraging,” he said.

A mix of ideas have been received, from bringing fishbowls into the waiting rooms of medical centres, to making train travel between the Wendouree and Ballarat stations free, and even creating a ‘taste of Ballarat’ ice cream to draw visitors.

“We’ve had lots around the visitor economy and hospitality sector, and how dining experiences could be improved, and there’s been a big sustainability push this year,” Mr Clare said.

With the competition closing on Monday, he said it’s “never too late to throw in an idea.” Suggest it will even be campaigning at the Australia Junior Basketball Championships at Selkirk Stadium this weekend.

“Ideas can be big or small, but it’s the simple ones that can a difference to smaller businesses and organisations.

“Thank you to the people of Ballarat for sharing their ideas and helping us crowdsource positive and constructive ideas,” Mr Clare said.

“As simple as it sounds, it’s really contributing towards the city’s recovery post-COVID and encouraging businesses to grow.”

In delivering the initiative, Suggest it is working with the City of Ballarat, Commerce Ballarat, the Committee for Ballarat, Runway, Federation University, Ballarat Regional Tourism, and Crazy Ideas College.

Experts from the partner organisations will help to judge the competition, and winners will be announced in the coming weeks. Visit suggestit.com.au/bbi to share an idea.