Online consultation platform Parley chief optimist Don Grant, formerly of Wānaka, said he had to be optimistic because something had to be done about the state of local government and people’s lack of interest in it.
"I’ve been thinking about this for nearly six years."
People felt the council did not listen to them and had switched off, he said.
For example, when the long-term plan document went out for consultation, it was about 150 pages long.
"Why not cut it into small pieces and go out to the people and ask ‘what do you think about this?’."
Similarly, with the elections under way and voting papers in the mail, people could go to the app and directly ask questions of candidates, he said.
"The council works in a silo, pretty much all councils do. [When an idea is floated] they could go to people on the app and say ‘we don’t know what this will cost but here’s a ballpark figure, what do you think?’."
If there was no enthusiasm for the idea then it would save a lot of time and work for council staff.
"What I’m trying to do is to get the council to actually consult first, and that’s the main objective of Parley.
At the moment, it took eight months to a year for an idea to come to ratepayers for consultation, he said.
While the council was improving its consultation processes, it still missed the people he was trying to reach.
They were getting home from work, feeding children and getting them to bed between 5.30 and 7.30pm.
On Parley, the council could hold webinars, live events and surveys, Mr Grant said.
As there was no advertising on the app, he was hoping the council would pay him instead of its current survey providers to conduct research on the app.
"We are not hearing from a big majority of people because they’re just not interested and and haven’t got time. That’s why I’ve invented Parley. They can wake up at 2am and suddenly have a great idea and jump on [the app]. They check on it once a week to see what’s happening at the council."
While the app was built and ready to roll out all around the country, it would first be trialled in Central Otago, Mr Grant said.
He had already had a positive response from Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley and community board members.
