Tremendi Case Study: How South Burnett Regional Council (SBRC) is Turning Innovative Stakeholder Engagement into Better Water Outcomes
Client: South Burnett Regional Council (SBRC)
Partners: Tremendi | Water Process Design | Innovate Wisely™
Focus: Drinking Water Quality Strategy – Stakeholder Engagement in Infrastructure Planning
From Infrastructure Project to Regional Model in the Making
When South Burnett Regional Council (SBRC) embarked on a Drinking Water Quality Options Strategy to improve water quality across its eight drinking water schemes, it could have focused purely on infrastructure. But instead, it took a more visionary path – one that recognised stakeholder engagement as critical to delivering operational efficiency, successful innovation, and outcomes.
When asked on commencement what the project success would look like, SBRC Manager, Water and Wastewater Adam Brandt, said “not just another consultant report that sits on the shelf”.
The deeper understanding was already there – that delivering clean, safe drinking water isn’t just about technical filtration. It is an issue of trust, engagement governance, and a community. That’s why SCC member Tremendi, was asked to collaborate with technical lead Water Process Design and innovation success partner Innovate Wisely™, to shape a stakeholder engagement strategy that would both inform and complement, technical water engineering recommendations.
As SBRC Principal Water and Wastewater Engineer put it during one of the engagement workshops – the challenges of water management are unseen and out of mind and sight of most residents – and for the project to be successful, we need to make the invisible, visible.
The South Burnett Drinking Water Quality Options Strategy will be presented soon, to full council, along with a Community and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy. This will help to make sure that this time, effective stakeholder engagement, alignment of vision and KPIs, and community education support critical innovations to succeed.
The Challenge
The Innovate Wisely™ Trust Analyser™ process was used as an agile-compatible facilitation tool during both operator and council workshops.
The process identified five critical issues to be addressed to ensure successful implementation of the SBRC Drinking Water Quality Strategy:
• Community Disengagement and Misinformation
Residents lack a clear understanding of water quality issues (e.g. environmental factors), due to a lack of easily accessible water quality information, fuelling complaints and misattributed blame towards council despite its best efforts with resources available.
• Operator Disenfranchisement
Frontline staff feel fatigued and disillusioned, citing repeated feedback cycles with little visible action – undermining morale and trust.
• Internal Misalignment
While Council and executive leaders are highly proactive, operators feel disconnected from decision-making and have little visual on the efforts of elected leaders. This gap weakens alignment and delivery – also impacted by significant resourcing constraints limiting system upgrades.
• Funding Challenges
Engagement with state /federal funding bodies has been challenging due to it being a competitive landscape. While state water quality guidelines become more strenuous, more regional communities are asking for support.
• Lack of a Shared Narrative
Each scheme faces distinct technical and historical challenges, such as aging infrastructure, but this complexity is not being translated into simple, relatable public, political and stakeholder messaging. Rather than just updating treatment plants, SBRC wanted a long-term, sustainable solution. That meant understanding both the water chemistry – and the human dynamics that shape infrastructure success.
The Turning Point: Trust as a Diagnostic Tool
Tremendi’s work with Innovate Wisely™ to deploy its Trust Analyser™ tool, engaged both operators and councillors in a diagnostic process. These workshops uncovered the full picture – not only where infrastructure was failing, but also why momentum had stalled.
Through this process, the team surfaced:
• Quick wins for treatment optimisation and digital monitoring
• Hidden cost drivers in water quality compliance
• Operational insights from frontline staff often left out of planning
• Energy and trust blockages undermining council-community alignment
What emerged was more than an options assessment. It was a roadmap that paired technical upgrades with political and social licence to deliver them.
As Adam Branch said “Integrating Innovate Wisely™ into our Drinking Water Quality Strategy supported internal alignment and engagement. The Trust Analyser™ workshops helped us identify key trust and momentum issues early, which informed a stakeholder strategy supporting smoother implementation and better project outcomes.”
Engagement Drives Efficiency
Critically, this approach isn’t just about “soft stuff.” Stakeholder engagement has already driven practical efficiencies in the forward recommendations, including:
• Identifying low-cost automation upgrades with highest impact
• Targeting replacement of infrastructure where better efficiencies can be achieved and where risks were highest
• Helping operators feel heard and empowered – nurturing a shared vision and reducing turnover risk
And with a structured Community & Stakeholder Engagement Strategy proposed, Council is empowered to embed engagement as a governance tool – not just a communications function.
A New Benchmark for Regional Water Governance
The result is a bold vision: a Drinking Water Quality Options Strategy that integrates:
• Engineering rigour
• Lifecycle cost-benefit analysis
• Real-time community feedback loops
• Stakeholder-led prioritisation
• Digital transparency tools
• Scheme-level community reference panels
While Council will receive a fully costed options roadmap, the benefits have already begun – through stronger alignment, shared accountability, and clearer advocacy of water quality as a primarily issue for the region’s health, social and economic future.
Why It Matters
For SBRC, this approach will help to ensure that this strategy will succeed through effective stakeholder engagement, alignment of vision and KPIs, and community education.
Want to Lead Like South Burnett?
Tremendi works with partners such as Innovate Wisely, to help councils and utilities shift from reactive infrastructure projects to future-proofed community solutions. If you’re looking to drive trust, unlock funding, and deliver measurable outcomes, let’s talk.