Examples Of Our Work Saunders Mc Dermott Consulting

Meeting Facilitation - Work Example 1
Our Water - Worth Saving (Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
Role of SMC
• Development and implementation of a program of stakeholder meetings - as part of an intensive campaign to reduce the amount of town
water used on the Central Coast, further educate the community as to how/ why they needed to conserve water, change how stakeholders
view and value water as a limited resource in the future. The Program included:
- small Precinct and Progress Association meetings
- formal lunches at the regional Chambers of Commerce
- town-hall style community forums
- industry-specific information sessions
- internal staff updates
- call centre/customer service training sessions
- media conferences
- targeted focus groups
- manned shopping centre displays
- major retail customer information sessions (Bunnings, Harvey Norman)
SMC’s Key Deliverables
• Development of an appropriate meeting program - including the structure, location, target audiences, timing and content of each meeting
as well as the choice of presenters
• Facilitation of each meeting and, where necessary, presentation of the key information / answering of audience questions – due to
unavailability of the Councils’ senior management
• Development of all supporting collateral materials – including presentations, FAQs, fact sheets, information packs, website content
• Monitoring / recording of all stakeholder feedback - including questions asked by the audience and answers provided)
• Analysis of stakeholder input - and degree of stakeholder engagement achieved including assessment of whether it was increasing or
decreasing
• Recommended refinements to the stakeholder meeting program - and overall Our Water – Worth Saving stakeholder engagement /
community education program
• Confirmation of the dominant profiles - within GCC’s & WSC’s local communities and other stakeholders to enable future meeting content
to be carefully tailored to help achieve an even higher degree of engagement and trust
• Tracking of changes in attitudes/behaviour of GCC’s & WSC’s local communities - through the four phases of change to gauge the impact,
value and effectiveness of the stakeholder meeting program and overall Our Water – Worth Saving stakeholder engagement /community
education program

Meeting Facilitation - Work Example 1 (cont)
Our Water - Worth Saving (Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
Outcomes & Results Achieved
• Above average attendance at all of the meetings - for example the first community Water Forum attracted more than 650
people compared to a Council anticipated turn out of 100
• Tangible reduction in community anger towards GCC / WSC as partners in the local Water Authority – following the first round
of meetings as demonstrated by a 35% movement of the number of stakeholders in the Denial / Anger segments through to the
Reasoning segment within the four phase change process
• Better community understanding about the cause / context of the worst drought on record in the region - and how it related
to what was happening elsewhere in Australia and around the world due to climate change as demonstrated by a change in the
type of questions and attitude of attendees at subsequent meetings
• Increased awareness about what the two Councils were doing to mitigate / manage the drought conditions - as demonstrated
by the type of questions asked at subsequent meetings and attitude of attendees . For example, at the start of the first round of
meetings, one of the community’s intensively held core beliefs was that the region’s main storage dam (Mangrove Creek Dam)
had been built in the wrong location . By the start of the second round of meetings, the community no longer asked any
questions about the location of the dam and as an issue it had dissipated
• Better understanding about the need for / strong degree of community commitment to use less town water – as well as to use
water more efficiently and view water as a valuable but limited future resource as demonstrated by a 30% reduction in total
daily water consumption on the Central Coast within 6 months of the campaign commencing
• Increase in the number of applications received by Council from individual community members for water related rebates -
for the installation of water conservation items such as rainwater tanks, water efficient washing machines, grey-water systems
• Strong demand for items promoting water conservation - such as shower timers, stickers, posters, flyers as part of the Our
Water – Worth Saving campaign as demonstrated by the large number of written / phone requests received by both Councils via
their customer service teams

Mardi-Mangrove Link Project (Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
Role of SMC
• Development of effective meeting program to help rebuild stakeholder relationships - with landholders, the Yarramalong Valley
rural community and wider Central Coast community about the need for and progress of this new $170 million water
infrastructure. Development work included structure, location, target audiences, timing, content and feedback evaluation
processes for each meeting
• Facilitation of each of the meetings - including Open Houses, town hall style meetings, one-on-one briefings with local MPs,
Councillor briefings, Government Department Workshops, manned information displays at Council organised community events
• Development of all supporting collateral materials – including presentations, FAQs, fact sheets, information packs, website
content
• Training of Project Team presenters - to ensure consistent, best practice performance in sometimes extremely challenging
circumstances
• Strong control of the meetings - given that a previous program of meetings (not undertaken by SMC) had resulted in a walk-out
by community members, negative media coverage and a targeted campaign of complaints from stakeholders to the elected
Councillors at both Councils
• Monitoring / recording of all stakeholder feedback - including questions from the audience and the answers provided
• Analysis of stakeholder input - and the degree of engagement achieved including assessment of whether it was increasing or
decreasing)
• Recommend refinements to the MML Stakeholder Engagement program - including the ongoing stakeholder meeting program
• Confirmation of the dominant profiles within MML’s key stakeholder groups - and other stakeholders to enable future meeting
content to be carefully tailored to help achieve an even higher degree of engagement and trust
• Tracking of changes in the attitude/behaviour of MML’s key stakeholders - through the four phases of change to gauge the
impact, value and effectiveness of the Project’s stakeholder meeting and engagement programs

• Gradual increase in degree of stakeholder engagement - particularly among previously angry landholders as demonstrated by
the degree of emotion and anger shown by stakeholders as the meeting program progressed
• Reduction in landholder anger towards the Project Team and Councils - due to them having a better understanding about the
project as a whole and the formal process to identify a recommended water pipeline route through Yarramalong Valley - as
demonstrated by a drop in complaint numbers and correspondence received reducing from an average of 100 per month to a
current average of 5 per month
• Better community understanding about the project - as demonstrated by increasing support for the Project among Councillors
and the broader Central Coast community
• Unanimous adoption by both Councils of a final water pipeline route - through Yarramalong Valley
• Steady flow of landholders signing formal easement agreements - and accepting the compensation payments from the two
Councils
• Steady flow of properties available for access by the Project Team’s investigation engineers - to check the route alignment,
undertake geological testing and drilling, survey and boundary mark individual properties
• Steady flow of properties available for access by the Project Team’s property managers and valuers - to undertake independent
valuations of each affected property, identify with landholders their special access arrangements and agree minor route
modifications where possible to lessen the overall impact of the pipeline

Industry Forums – (Our Water – Worth Saving, Gosford City Council)
Role of SMC
• Development and management of a series of industry forums - to identify additional water saving activities that Council could
develop to reduce the amount of water used outdoors by commercial users g and content
• Development of an appropriate forum structure - to attract as many attendees as possible and develop a viable short-list of
potential ideas for consideration by Council
• Effective facilitation to draw out the maximum number of ideas - for further discussion and possible consideration by Council
• Strong control of the forums - to ensure that it proceeded in a professional manner at all times despite emotions being likely
to run high due to the imminent introduction of Level 5 water restrictions which prohibited all outdoor use of town water
• Presentation of all key information and answers to audience questions – due to a Council presenter not being available
• Development of all supporting collateral materials – including presentations, FAQs, fact sheets, information packs, website
content
• Monitoring/recording of all stakeholder feedback - including the questions asked by the audience and the answers given
• Analysis of stakeholder input - and degree of engagement achieved
• Identification of a short list of ideas - including a top line review of the value and likely impact of each
• Confirmation of the dominant profiles - within GCC’s commercial water users stakeholder groups
• Capturing of benchmarking data re attitude/behaviours/response to suggested innovative water conservation ideas
including a Water Banking Scheme – which were then used as a comparison to track changes in the degree of stakeholder
engagement as the new Water Banking Scheme was rolled out

Industry Forums – (Our Water – Worth Saving, Gosford City Council)
• Strong input to the meeting by all attendees - which resulted in identification of the unique Water Banking Scheme for use by
commercial water users who rely on the outdoor use of town water (swimming pools providers, landscapers, nurseries,
building trades, car washes, turf farms)
• Good attendance from a broad cross section of industries - which rely on the daily use of water with more than 300 people
attending each of the meetings
• Successful development and adoption of the Water Banking Scheme by Council - less than 6 weeks after the holding of the
Industry Forums
• Successful response to the launch of the Water Banking Scheme - as demonstrated by applications to participate being about
30% higher than anticipated in the first week of implementation (around 250 applications were received)
• Good implementation and adherence to the Scheme’s protocols / procedures - with around 75% of participants lodging their
applications on time and correctly
• Smooth integration of the Scheme into the Council’s every day water management practices - over a relatively short period of
just 3 months
• Good support for the Scheme - as demonstrated by the high number of comments and written feedback received by Council
and the positive media coverage before and after the Scheme’s launch
• Strong interest from other local government organisations in the Scheme - and how they could apply it to their own region as
demonstrated by the regular flow of invites to present an overview of the Scheme to other Councils and organisations

Event Management - Work Example 1
Central Coast Water Festival (Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
Role of SMC
• Development, co-ordination, implementation of a major regional event - including location, exhibitors, speakers, entertainment,
promotion, media, sponsorships to reinforce the water conservation messages and educate the community about the many programs,
services and products available to help them save water.
• Aim was also to help the community better understand - all of the short, medium and long-term work being undertaken by the two
Councils to combat the worst drought on record
• Event needed to be more than just a business expo - to ensure sufficient visitors of all age groups/background attended to ensure that
community awareness about the water situation and the role all water users had to play continued to grow
• To achieve all of these objectives, a mix of family entertainment was incorporated into the event – including face-painting, street theatre,
reptile displays, children’s rides, schools’ poster /art displays, musical entertainment
• Competitions were also held for visitors to win water conservation devices – including a rainwater tank, water-efficient washing machine
and a refit kit (which comprised a retrofit of their home with a water efficient showerhead, cistern weight, tap aerators).
• Creation of a family fun day out during which vital water conservation messages could be shared - through a variety of mechanisms to the
widest audience possible
• Securing of a broad range of exhibitors within a water-related theme - to enable them to showcase their water conservation products /
services to help further educate the community about how easy it is to save water on a daily basis
• Securing of sufficient business sponsorship - to reduce the total required funding from the two Councils
• Securing of sufficient high profile speakers, family entertainers and other relevant activities - to attract the maximum number of visitors
and exhibitors to the event
• Development and implementation of a broad, integrated promotional campaign - to ensure the widest number of people were aware of
the event (direct mail, advertising, media, website, third party advocacy)
• Project management of the overall event - to ensure it progressed as smoothly and efficiently as possible
• Undertaking of visitor and exhibitor surveys - to gain valuable feedback about the structure, content and overall impact of the event on key
stakeholder groups
• Preparation of a detailed report for the two Councils - about the impact and value of the event and its relevance as an annually occurring
activity as part of the Councils’ continued investment in its water conservation education program

Event Management - Work Example 1 (cont)
Central Coast Water Festival (Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
• Attendance by approximately 8,5000 people - to the 2007 Central Coast Water Festival which represented an increase of 20 per
cent on similar Council organised events in the area
• Attraction of approximately 40 exhibitors - to the 2007 Central Coast Water Festival which was double the average number of
sponsors usually involved in similar Council organised events in the area
• Involvement (directly and indirectly) of a broad range of stakeholders including:
- rainwater tank providers
- grey water system suppliers
- nurseries
- turf farmers
- pool suppliers
- plumbing services
- community groups
- environment groups
- schools
- national retailers ( Bunnings, Harvey Norman)
• Consistent promotion of the ‘need to save water’ message to attendees – as demonstrated by people’s knowledge when it
came to completing the follow-up surveys distributed to all visitors
• 95% satisfaction among exhibitors with the opportunity to Festival provided - for them to showcase their water-conservation
products or services
• Feedback from visitors to the Festival which indicated that around76% of them had learnt something new - on the day about
water saving products, services, programs or actions
• Continued acknowledgement among visitors about the need to conserve water – particularly with local school children and
families
• Strong media support for the Festival - as indicated by the resulting positive media coverage before and after the Festival
• Strong support across both Councils and local MPs for the event - to remain a key part of the water conservation education
program

Community Water Forum – (Our Water – Worth Saving, Gosford City Council)
Role of SMC
• Development of the Water Forum concept - to enable the community’s dissatisfaction with how the region’s worst drought on record was
being managed by the two Councils to be tackled head-on
• This dissatisfaction was mainly the result of a lack of easily available information at the time – which put the drought into some kind of
context
• The aim of the Forum was to demonstrate that the region was not alone in its plight – and explain what the two Councils were doing to
manage the situation
• The aim of the Forum was also to confirm the role of the community in helping manage the drought – by making it clear the contribution
waters users had made to causing the drought conditions by their inefficient use of water and the fact that they did not currently see water
as a valued but limited future resource
• The Forum also provided an ideal opportunity for Council to put a face to the ‘unidentified’ team - that was responsible for managing the
region’s water supply
• The Forum also provided a ideal mechanism for Council to realign some of the community’s core beliefs - about how the region’s water
supply system worked, where and how water was sourced to ensure people had sufficient drinking water on a daily basis, and the limited
options available to Council to try and rectify the situation in the short term
• Development, implementation and management of a well structured, workable and realistic event - that would attract a large number of
people so Council could engage with, influence and educate a broad cross section of the community
• Development of a community event that would accommodate the different ways in which people like to receive and process information
- for example not everyone wants to sit through a 40 minute presentation, some people may only have 10 minutes to spare to pop in and
have a look around
• Development of appropriate evaluation processes that would enable benchmarking data about the community’s perceptions, key issues
and core beliefs could be captured – and used to assess the impact, value for money and success of the Council’s Our Water – Worth Saving
campaign over time
• Development and implementation of an effective promotional campaign in support of the Community Water Forum – to ensure strong
awareness / interest about the event which would then translate into good attendance levels
• Development of all collateral materials – including presentations, posters, flyers, advertisements, media releases, website content, displays,
fact sheets, brochures, other promotional items

SMC’s Key Deliverables (cont)
• Securing of an external high profile ‘climate change and water industry speaker – to provide an outsider’s view and help
further explain the context of the region’s worst drought on record
• Training of all of the presenters – to ensure consistent, confident performance on the day
• Overall project management of the event – including liaison with the venue, catering supplier, security teams, printers,
advertising company, transport and signage providers etc
• Liaison with the elected Councillors and local MPs – to ensure they were aware of the event and how they could get involved
• Provision of all support staff – including the building of all of various displays that were included in the event (water saving
kitchen, bathroom, laundry, water efficient shower heads, grey water systems etc), and manning them on the day
• Analysis of all stakeholder input and feedback - and the degree of engagement achieved
• Preparation of a detailed report to Council – highlighting the key events of the day, the issues raised by the community, the
requested actions of the community, the number of people who attended, a summary of the overall community feedback on the
value/impact of the event
• Preparation of a detailed report to Council staff – confirming the dominant profiles within GCC’s communities and stakeholder
groups, benchmarking data regarding the attitudes, behaviours and core beliefs of the Forum attendees, and recommendations
as to how the Our Water – Worth Saving stakeholder engagement and community education campaign should be refined to
better engage stakeholders and continue to build community confidence in the Council’s ability to effectively manage the
region’s water supply during such severe drought conditions

• Commencement of a rebuilding process between the Council and its stakeholders - based on a two communications process,
integrity and trust
• Gradual re-education of the community to better understand the scale and overall workings of the system that supplies their
drinking water on a daily basis - as indicated by the ongoing feedback received from the community following the Forum
• Gradual re-education of the community about the important role they have to play in water conservation – and reducing the
amount of valuable drinking water they use and waste each day as indicated by the ongoing feedback received from the
community following the Forum
• Much better understanding by Council about the degree of misinformation that existed in the community about the cause
and extent of the region’s worst drought on record - as indicated by the questions that were asked at the Forum
• Creation of a public ‘face’ for the Our Water – Worth Saving campaign – namely the Mayor of Gosford and the Council’s Acting
Director, Water & Sewer who went on to front a large percentage of the ongoing media and community activities associated with
the campaign
• Collection and analysis of valuable stakeholder perception and core belief data – that was used as a benchmark for tracking the
movement of stakeholders through the four phases of changes as the Our Water – Worth Saving campaign was rolled out . This
data was also used to assess the overall impact and value of Council’s significant investment in the Our Water – Worth Saving
campaign as it continued to be rolled out
• Collection and analysis of valuable stakeholder feedback about the key issues regarding the region’s water supply that were
keeping the community awake at night – which was then used to help tailor the future content and focus of the Our Water –
Worth Saving campaign
• Creation of a number of active and positive ‘advocates’ of the Council’s water conservation methods – who became
increasingly involved in the Our Water – Worth Saving campaign to help further increase community awareness of and support
for the Council’s water saving activities, programs and strategies

Launch of WaterPlan 2050 (Gosford/Wyong Councils’ Water Authority)
Role of SMC
• Development of a series of community events to roll-out the preliminary working draft of WaterPlan 2050 – a blueprint for the
management of the Central Coast’s water resources over the next 45 years and obtain community feedback on the proposed key actions
contained in WaterPlan 2050
• Development of a series of community events to launch the Council endorsed version of WaterPlan 2050 - and garner strong community
awareness as well as understanding about the key actions and programs included in the plan which required significant community support
to make them work in the medium to long-term
• Identification of the key target stakeholder groups / individuals with the potential to exercise a reliable degree of influence - over the rest
of the community in terms of generating strong support for WaterPlan 2050
• Development of an appropriate program of meetings to target these key stakeholder groups and community members – including
development of the right meeting structure, content, timing and venue
• Promotion of the meetings to ensure a strong turnout - using the widest possible range of delivery mechanisms
• Development of all support collateral materials – including presentations, advertisements, posters, flyers, website content, media releases
• Drafting / finalisation of a summary WaterPlan 2050 brochure and flyer - to highlight the priority actions and key messages of the long-
term blue print to the community using Plain English for distribution during the meetings and generally to the community
• Training of all of the Council presenters for the different types of meetings – to ensure a consistent, professional performance
• Project management of all of the meetings – including liaison with venues, catering suppliers, printers, graphic designers, web site
managers
• Analysis of stakeholder input - and degree of engagement achieved, key issues raised
• Media liaison and management – to ensure the resulting media coverage was positive and that well prepared, competent and capable
Council media spokespeople were available for comment at all times
• Updating of elected Councillors and local MPs – to ensure strong support and consistent use of the agreed key messages

Launch of WaterPlan 2050 (Gosford/Wyong Councils’ Water Authority)
• Successful roll-out of the preliminary draft /adopted version of WaterPlan 2050 - as demonstrated by the positive community
feedback received after each of the meetings and the resulting media coverage
• Creation of strong community interest in the priority actions contained in WaterPlan 2050 – and increased awareness about
the vital role the community can play in helping secure the region’s water supply over the next 45 years as demonstrated by the
large number of emails, phone calls and requests for further information received by the two Councils immediately following the
launch of the preliminary working draft and adopted version
• Generation of lively community debate about the priorities actions included in WaterPlan 2050 - and the nine capital works
options that the two Councils decided not to pursue as demonstrated by the type of conversations between Council staff and
community members at the various WaterPlan 2050 meetings
• Generation of strong Councillor support for the preliminary working draft / adopted version of WaterPlan 2050 – as
demonstrated by the amount of public comment made by the Councillors and their willingness to undertake media interviews
and attend community meetings
• Strong attendance by a broad cross section of the community at each of the meetings – which ranged from small groups of
around 20 up to audiences of more than 100
• Capture and analysis of vital stakeholder feedback about the community’s perceived information gaps – and the issues that
remained unresolved following each meeting. This data was then used to continually refine the meeting program and the key
messages/general information provided to stakeholders about WaterPlan 2050

Evaluation & Reports - Work Example 1
Personality Profiling of Key Stakeholder Groups (Gosford City Council)
Role of SMC
• Preparation of a detailed report identifying the dominant personality profiles within Council’s key stakeholder groups - to help
ensure key information is shared in the right way at the right time using the right delivery mechanisms
• The benefit of identifying these personality profiles is that they provide an accurate roadmap for Council - about the specific
words, phrases and delivery mechanisms that work best with each of the various personality profiles to ensure that the Council’s
stakeholder engagement activities achieve optimum outcomes
• Detailed review of all of the stakeholder feedback previously collected by Council over a two to three year period - including
survey responses, customer service query reports, community letters, emails, phone calls and all other forms of community
interaction to accurately ‘type’ the dominant personality profiles
• Identification of the dominant personality profiles – and drafting of an explanation about how each of them like to receive and
process information as well as their potential responses to the type of information likely to be shared with them by Council in the
short and medium term, particularly in regard to the drought conditions and ongoing management of the region’s water supply
• Presentation of summary results to key Council’s senior management – as part of a series of introductory workshops aimed at
explaining how the resulting data can be used to improve Council’s understanding about what makes its key stakeholders tick and
how to best to engage them particularly during times of significant change
• Better understanding among Council’s senior management and internal communications staff about how to engage key
stakeholder groups - as demonstrated by a tangible improvement in the quality and the relevance of the community
consultation activities undertaken by Council following receipt of the SMC Personality Profiling Report
• Agreement by Council for all of its senior communications staff and key spokespeople to undertake the Introduction of
Personality Profiling workshop – as provided by SMC as part of an integrated, long-term program to significantly improve the
Council’s stakeholder engagement over time
• Use of the personality profiling data to successfully develop and implement the Our Water – Worth Saving stakeholder
engagement and community education campaign - which resulted in a 30% reduction in domestic town water consumption on
the Central Coast in just 6 months

Route Selection Report of Community Comment & Feedback (Mardi-Mangrove Link Project,
Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
Role of SMC
• Development of a Plain English document which explained the formal processes used by the Project Team to identify and
confirm a recommended water pipeline route through Yarramalong Valley - for review and comment by affected landholders,
Valley community and other interested parties
• Participation in the multi-criteria analysis to provide formal community impact data - as part of the assessment process to
score each of the potential route options through the 9-sector pipeline
• Participation in the stringent review process - to test the robustness and accuracy of the pipeline option scores and overall
analysis
• Drafting of a summary and supporting detailed explanation of the recommended route for each of the 9 options - including an
overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each option across the five key assessment, the resulting multi-criteria scores and
supporting visual materials showing the recommended route through each sector of the Valley
• Development of appropriate supporting materials - to encourage the maximum number of stakeholders to review and
comment on the report
• Development of an appropriate media liaison campaign to promote the launch of the report - to encourage the maximum
number of stakeholders to review and comment on the report
• Management of the approvals process report and its timely distribution to the community - using the maximum number of
delivery mechanisms
• Management of the informal community feedback process and ongoing liaison with Council - to ensure this feedback is also
considered as part of the formal public exhibition and comment process
• Ongoing interaction with stakeholders in particular directly affected landholders - to answer their written and verbal queries
about the report and its content to ensure the fully understand how the route selection process was implemented, the route
that has been recommended, how they can share their feedback with Council and what the next decision making steps will be

Evaluation & Reports - Work Example 2 (cont)
Route Selection Report of Community Comment & Feedback (Mardi-Mangrove Link Project,
Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
• Successful distribution of the report to the largest number of stakeholders - as demonstrated by the large degree of landholder
and other community comment about the recommended pipeline route
• Generation of widespread debate about the recommended water pipeline route - among affected landholders, Yarramalong
Valley community, elected Councillors and wider Central Coast community as demonstrated by the large degree of
correspondence, phone calls and interaction about the recommended pipeline route
• Accurate but mixed media coverage about the recommended pipeline route – which was influenced to some degree by
proponents of the project (mainly angry landholders who totally oppose the pipeline at all costs) who waged a relatively
aggressive opposition campaign in the media
• Strong Councillors and local MP interest in the report – accompanied by their consistent public support for the robustness and
professionalism of the route selection process
• Adoption of the recommended route by both Councils for 8 out of the 9 sectors – which make up the overall pipeline route,
with a decision deferred on only one Sector
• Receipt of only 14 written submissions by Council in response to the recommended pipeline route report – despite the Project
directly and indirectly impacting more than 330 Yarramalong Valley residents

Ongoing Community Surveys of the Community’s Changing Water Usage Habits (Gosford City &
Wyong Shire Councils)
Role of SMC
• Development of a easy to use mechanism for capturing and recording the direct feedback of water users - on the Central Coast
at the many community events organised by the two Councils
• Drafting of easy to use, relevant, behavioural change based community surveys - that take only a few minutes to complete but
which provide the maximum number of insights into the changing water usage habits of the community
• Development of a data analysis procedure which Councils’ communications staff can use - which is simple, accurate and
enables top line results to be easily identified by people who are not necessarily experienced in undertaking this type of market
research
• Development of an additional layer of data analysis that will confirm the dominant personality profiles of the Councils’ key
communities – as part of ensuring that all future stakeholder engagement, community liaison and behavioural change activities
deliver optimum outcomes
• Development of a simple to use analysis process that enables Council staff to monitor and track the impact of the Councils’
various water conservation activities - in particular the available community rebates, events, media and advertising campaigns,
all of which represent a major investment by the two Councils
• Capture and analysis of vital benchmarking community water usage habit data - which continues to be used by the two
Councils to track the impact of its investment in water conservation stakeholder engagement and education activities
• Tracking of the impact and value of individual stakeholder engagement and education activities on the water usage habits of
the Central Coast community – which enables Council to update, refresh or change these activities and the degree to which they
are promoted the community when the market survey data indicates that such activities are no longer successfully influencing
the community

Engagement Plans & Strategies - Work Example 1
Our Water – Worth Saving (Gosford City Council)
Role of SMC
• Development of an effective integrated stakeholder engagement and community education campaign - to deliver an
immediate significant reduction in the amount of town water used on the Central Coast on a daily basis
• Such a campaign has to target and involve all of the different types of waters users - across the domestic and commercial
sectors. It also has to align with the current Level 5 water restrictions which are the most stringent in Australia with a complete
ban on the outdoor use of town water
• The campaign has not only extremely tight deadlines but also a limited budget - and no access to additional internal Council
communications staff to help implement the program
• High profile, realistic and workable integrated campaign that gets the relevant key message across – including the fact that if
the community did not start saving water immediately there was a real risk the region would run out of available drinking water
• Involvement in the campaign of as many community groups as possible – to help achieve maximum community understanding
about how they can save water
• Significant changes to the community’s water usage habits to eliminate the large amount of water that is being wasted on a
daily basis – simply because people do not perceive water as a highly value but limited resource into the future
• Development of a campaign tag line and a series of hard hitting images – which get the water conservation message easily and
effectively
• Securing of as much free advertising, signage, printing and design services as possible – to reduce the required funding from
Council to support the campaign
• Development of effective and reliable tracking mechanisms - to enable Council to measure and evaluate the impact its
significant investment in the campaign is having on water usage levels
• Sub-campaigns aimed specifically at different industry types, particularly those involved in the tourism interest – to ensure
that the Council’s water conservation messages are hammered home to all visitors to the region so they do not hamper the
Central Coast’s ability to reduce the amount of water that is used every day and that they strictly adhere to the region’s Level 5
water restrictions, even during the hot summer months

Innovative Activities Included in the Campaign
• Free use of roadside illuminated signs - following a donation of all of their empty space by a Sydney based advertising company
• Distribution and display of Our Water – Worth Saving stickers in all public rest rooms and amenities - across the Central Coast,
some of which remain in place today
• Distribution of Our Water – Worth Saving information packs to all accommodation providers, restaurants, clubs, motels, pubs,
caravan parks, banks, GP surgeries, Surf Life Clubs, RSL Clubs and other tourist related outlets - for display in foyers, individual
rooms, above room sinks, in rest rooms, beside swimming pools and other water related activities
• Display of ‘Explanation Signs’ at all beach showers, boat ramps, drinking fountains and other public access points to drinking
water - to explain why these amenities are no longer available to the water restrictions and impacts of the worst drought on
record on the Central Coast
• Display of major campaign banners at all Surf Life Saving Clubs and on all available external community noticeboards – which
reiterate the campaign water conservation images and key messages
• Free of charge information displays (manned and unmanned) at all major shopping centres in the region – where Our Water –
Worth Saving promotion items such as shower timers were handed out to more than 2,000 shoppers and visitors every weekend
• Insertion of campaign posters in the table tops of more than 500 food court seats free of charge - in the largest shopping
centre on the Central Coast where footfall on a busy weekend can be as high as 20,000 people
• Placement of Our Water – Worth Saving on all Council owned and operated vehicles - including Surf Life Saving buggies on the
region’s beaches
• Information displays and attendance by the Our Water – Worth Saving team at all Council related and other relevant
community events - including Kids Day Out, Home Show, Flora Spring Time Show, Oyster Festival, Christmas Parades, Australia
Day, Anzac Day

• 30% reduction in total water usage levels on the Central Coast - over a 3 to 6 month period. Despite the lifting of water
restrictions from Level 5 to Level 2B as of 14 June 009, these water usage levels have remained relatively consistent for more
than two years
• Strong community involvement and awareness about the campaign - as demonstrated by the large number of posters, stickers
and banners that are still in place and are regularly placed some two years after the campaign was first rolled-out
• Investment in the campaign by large number of local businesses – as a result of them feeling they had a key role to play in
ensuring that their customers (the tourists and visitors) did not breach the strict water restrictions and the concerted effort by
the community to save water
• Significant change in the perceptions of the community about water conservation - and the value of water given is was a
limited resource over time as identified by the regular surveying of the community
• Increased community confidence in the Councils’ ability to manage the region’s water supply system during the worst drought
on record - as demonstrated by the drop in negative feedback and comments from the community about the ‘perceived poor
performance of Council’ which was a common trend prior to the roll-out of the campaign
• Winning of a Local Government communications award - for the campaign in 2007/08
• Adoption of many of the innovative aspects of the campaign - by other local government organisations
• Rebuilding of the community’s trust in the two Councils and the region’s water supply system - as demonstrated by the
ongoing feedback and comments from the community following the commencement of the campaign

Water Quality 21 (Gosford City Council)
Role of SMC
• Development of an effective strategy to educate the community about why certain areas of the Central Coast were constantly
subject to ‘dirty water’ - and why this problem seemed to be getting worse as the drought conditions intensified
• Development of appropriate procedures to reduce the anger and emotional outbursts of stakeholders when confronted by
dirty water - and their resulting interaction with Council’s customer service or field staff who were tasked wiwth trying to resovle
the discoloured water issues
• Development and roll-out of relevant high impact collateral materials - which explained in Plain English what caused ‘dirty
water’, why the drought was intensifying its occurrence and what Council was doing to try and reduce its presence in the water
supply system
• Conducting of commuity information sesssions across key parts of the water supply system – to allow interested community
members to see first hand the cause of dirty water and the various activities that Council was undertaking to overcome the
issues
• Establishment of a dedicated ‘discoloured water’ hotline within Council’s customer service team during high occurence levels
- to help speed up Council’s reaction to community reports of dirty water and provision of relevant staff training to ensure
consistnet key messages and supporting information was provided to the community
• Effective use of the media to help warn the community when Council activities across the water supply system were likely to
increase the potental for discoloured water - so water users could make the necessary arrangements to protect their washing
and ensure they had sufficient clear drinking water while Council sought to rectify the problem
• Provision of stakeholder engagement training for field operatives – to enable them to calm angry water users when seeking to
deal with dirty water occurences at people’s homes to reduce the incidences of verbal and physical abuse / assaults to Council
staff

Water Quality 21 (Gosford City Council)
• Increased community awareness about the cause of dirty water - and the many factors outside of Council’s control that resulted
in the its increased occurrence during drought conditions
• Reduction in the number of verbal and physical abuse of Council staff - while attending to dirty water call outs
• Reduction in the amount of negative media coverage - generated by complaints from the community to the local newspaper
• Faster turnaround times for the handling of dirty water complaints by Council’s customer service teams – due to the provision
of more targeted and easier to understand key messages and a lower level of ‘angry and emotional’ callers

Role of SMC
• Development of a master strategy to ensure the effective engagement of all stakeholders during the design, construction and
commissioning of the largest water infrastructure project - undertaken on the Central Coast in 25 years
• Development of sub-strategies to ensure an effective response to the various issues that will inevitably arise during the life of
the project – to ensure it remain on track, on time and on budget
• Identification and management of all key stakeholders and interest groups who can exert a major influence on the project - in
particular those who are known to oppose the project to ensure maximum public support for the project and minimal negative
comment
• Development and roll-out of effective, high impact collateral materials in support of the project – which explains why the new
water infrastructure is needed and the long-term benefits it will deliver for the Central Coast
• Establishment and maintenance of a dedicated Project website – which is regularly updated as the project progresses
• Management of all correspondence and telephone calls received from stakeholders – and drafting of relevant written
responses aimed at mitigating the various issues raised by the community
• Development and management of an effective Government Relations program - to ensure all local MPs (State and Federal) are
fully updated and supportive of the project
• Development and implementation of an effective Government Agency Workshop program as part of the project’s statutory
approvals process – to ensure a two-way communications process with the key departments that can directly impact the Review
of Environmental Factors process
• Management of all Councillor updates and briefings – to help garner the maximum degree of support for the project even
during the more challenging times of the project
• Development and implementation of an effective media liaison program – to maximise the amount of positive media coverage
and minimise the amount of negative media coverage
• Provision of community consultation and media management training for key Project Team members - to ensure confident,
consistent performance at all times when interacting with the community and other key stakeholders

• Development and implementation of regular shopping centre displays (manned and unmanned) at key locations throughout
the region - to help keep the broader Central Coast community updated and full informed about how the project is progressing
• Preparation of regular monthly and weekly communication, stakeholder engagement and community liaison reports to the
Project Team and Council – to demonstrate the value of the two Councils’ continued investment in such activities
• Attendance and input to fortnightly and monthly Project Team and Project Control Group meetings – to keep the project
decision makers fully informed as to current stakeholder issues, activities, outcomes and forthcoming challenges
• Presentations to key community groups on behalf of the Project Team as the project progresses – including the local
Yarramalong Valley Progress Association
• Presentations to Council staff on behalf of the Project Team as the project progresses – to help garner widespread support for
the project within the two Councils
• Development and implementation of all traffic management communications – during the investigations and construction
phases of the project
Key Challenges Overcome to Date
• Widespread opposition to the project by the Yarramalong Valley community - due to misconceptions about the impact of the
pipeline on the environment and individual landholders
• Change in Project Director three times - in less than three years
• Reduced focus on need to save water and/ or expand the water supply system - due to an increase in the amount of average
rainfall over the past six months and total dam levels rising from below 13% to more than 30%
• Increased focus on the total cost of the project - due to competing Council capital works priorities
• Time delays due to the need for the Project Team to undertake additional geological investigations – and Councillor indecision
over one sector of the pipeline route where landholders were particularly vocal about their opposition to the recommended
route
• Resulting flow-on delays to the Review of Environmental Factors and EOI processes
• Change in elected Councillors – with the arrival of 10 new Councillors who had limited knowledge about the Project and its
legacy issues and history

• Gradual increase in community awareness and support for the project - following a period of poor consultation by an
alternative adviser which resulted in a great deal of community angst and misunderstanding about the project
• Steady increase in the degree of landholder support for the project – and their willingness to accept a 10 metre easement on
thei properties in return for payment of reasonable and fair compensation
• Significant reduction in the number of complaints received by the two Councils about the Project and recommened pipleine
route from stakeholders – down from an average of 100 letters per month to a current average of 5 per month
• Gradual increase in positive media coverage about the project – as a result of the effective media liaison program, the focus of
which has been to educate the media about the project and respond more effectively to their queries to ensure a more positive
working relationship with the two Councils and Project Team
• Unanimous adoption by both Councils of a final water pipeline route - through Yarramalong Valley
• Steady flow of landholders signing formal easement agreements - and accepting the compensation payments from the two
Councils
• Steady flow of properties available for access by the Project Team’s investigation engineers - to check the route alignment,
undertake geological testing and drilling, survey and boundary mark individual properties
• Steady flow of properties available for access by the Project Team’s property managers and valuers - to undertake independent
valuations of each affected property, identify with landholders their special access arrangements and agree minor route
modifications where possible to lessen the overall impact of the pipeline
• Creation and maintenance of a strong working relationship with more than 10 different NSW Government Agencies – all of
which have the ability to exercise a significant degree of influence over and into the statutory approvals process for the Project

Community Consultation – Work Example 1
Introduction of Temporary Desalination Units (Gosford City & Wyong Shire Councils)
Role of SMC
• Development of an effective community consultation process to obtain feedback from stakeholders about the placement of
temporary desalination units - on various beaches around the Central Coast
• Management of the emotional reaction from stakeholders who are likely to react angrily to the placement of such units on
the region’s pristine beaches - as well as to the concept of drawing water from the sea and then returning a by-product of the
process which is perceived to have a high level of salinity back into the ocean
• Effective, believable and transparent key messages – and supporting collateral materials to try and garner maximum community
understanding about why the Councils are considering such an option, how the desalination works, the likely environmental
impacts, and what’s at risk if the Councils to not find alternative sources of water to bolster the region’s dwindling water supplies
• Undertaking of widespread community surveys to obtain direct feedback from a cross section of people, interest groups and
other relevant organisations - about the Councils’ possible investment in such units
• Development of a recommended stakeholder engagement program aimed at garnering sufficient community support to
enable the two Councils to proceed with the proposed use of temporary desalination plants if total dam storage levels were
to drop below 10% - without the risk of vocal community opposition and high profile demonstrations
• Identification of the key stakeholder issues and development of recommendations as to how these can be mitigated and
managed to allow the two Councils to proceed with the proposed use of temporary desalination plants - if total dam storage
levels were to drop below 10%
• Collection of a large quantity of high quality community feedback which clearly indicated that the Councils faced a significant
challenge - if they were to successfully introduce the use of temporary desalination plants
• Identification of a wide range of community issues about the introduction and placement of temporary desalination units on
Central Coast beaches that would present significant challenges - in terms of them being successfully mitigated and managed
by the two Councils
• Recommendation to the two Councils that they consider the use of temporary desalination units as a last resort - or risk facing
significant vocal and high profile opposition from a large sector of the community

Mardi-Mangrove Link Project
Role of SMC
• Development of an effective community consultation program to obtain constructive feedback from directly affected
landholders, the Yarramalong Valley community and all other interested parties - about the recommended water pipeline
route through a pristine and rural area of the Central Coast
• Design and implementation of a formal community feedback process that enabled stakeholders to provide their feedback -
using as many delivery mechanism as possible
• Management of those stakeholders who reacted emotionally and angrily to the recommended route – mainly due to a
misunderstanding about the extent of the impacts on their property
• Extraction of constructive feedback through the use of behavioural change techniques - which can help stakeholders to move
back onto a logical state out of a highly emotional state
• Capture and analysis of stakeholder feedback using a combination of informal (general discussions and interaction) and) and
formal methods (receipt of written submissions, correspondence, phone calls, comments in the media) to assess the level of
community support, opposition to and neutrality about the recommended route – to provide the Project Team with an idea of
the likely degree of community opposition to the recommended pipeline route and the risk of project delays due to possible
legal challenges by landholders and/or other interested parties
• Capture and analysis of informal feedback (general discussions and interaction) from Government Agencies, local MPs and
Councillors to predict the anticipated degree of public opposition or support for the recommended route – to gauge the
likelihood of the two Councils formally adopting the recommended route
• Preparation of a formal community feedback report for the Project Team about the anticipated degree of stakeholder support
for the recommended pipeline route – to enable any necessary refinements to be made to how the recommended route is
being positioned and explained to stakeholders, development of appropriate mitigating strategies to manage and neutralise
stakeholder issues, and briefing of key Project Team members and Council staff to ensure they are fully aware of the likely
behaviour of certain stakeholders as they seek to try and oppose the recommended pipeline route

Community Consultation – Work Example 2 (cont)
Mardi-Mangrove Link Project
• Generation of sufficient support among affected landholders for 8 out of the 9 sectors of the recommended
pipeline route - subject to a number of requested modifications and expansion of the existing community consultation
process
• The ability to anticipate the degree of landholder opposition and identification of the key issues enabled the
Project Team to mitigate and manage these concerns PRIOR to the report on the recommended pipeline route
being formally considered by the region’s Water Authority and two Councils – this provided the Councillors and
Board Member with increased comfort that the community was being heard and listened to
• The community consultation process resulted in increased support among some directly affected
landholders and the wider Central Coast community – who felt that the Project Team was doing its best to be as
transparent as possible and was prepared to listen to and respond to the individual concerns of landholders and other
interested parties
• Good support among the majority of local MPs who were kept fully about the consultation process and the
views being expressed by landholders – this reduced the risk of disgruntled landholders and proponents of the
Project only put their side to this group of influential stakeholders. Instead local MPs were able to make their own
informed decision having received information from all parties

Taste Testing of Recycled Drinking Water (Gosford City Council)
Role of SMC
• Development of an effective community consultation process to obtain top line feedback about the community’s initial
attitude towards the gradual introduction of recycled water by the Council as an alternative source of town water for a range
of potable and non-portable purposes - on the Central Coast during the region’s worst drought on record
• Review and analysis of the resulting consultation feedback as the basis for the development of a long-term communications
and education program to support the introduction of a pilot ‘sewer mining’ project - to supply non-potable water to
commercial water users in the Gosford CBD
• Identification of an appropriate program of community consultation over a 3 month period - to obtain a wide cross section of
community views about the possible future introduction of recycled drinking water into the region’s town water supply
• Sourcing of fully tested and approved drinking water for use during ‘taste testing’ sessions as part of the community
consultation process to enable people to make an informed decision about the use of recycled drinking water – the water was
sourced from Singapore and resulted in resulted in significant negotiations with Australian Customs to gain clearance for entry
into the country
• Development and implementation of an integrated promotion campaign advertising the community consultation process -
with the aim of encouraging as many people as possible to participate in the process and also to take part in the ‘taste testing’
sessions
• Identification of suitable venues to undertake the community consultation and taste testing activities where the maximum
number of community members could participate in the process - the process was undertaken during a week day and weekend
at local shopping centres across the region
• Preparation and implementation of all collateral materials in support of the community consultation and taste testing
activities – including display materials, media releases, website content, posters, flyers, FAQs, Fact Sheets
• Development of the community consultation survey based on proven core belief research techniques – which included a
combination of closed and open questions to identify the deep-seated perceptions about the use of recycled drinking water as
part of the region’s overall water supply
• Implementation of the community consultation and recycled drinking taste testing activities – which attracted more than
2,0000 participants over a 3 month period

Community Consultation – Work Example 3 (cont)
Taste Testing of Recycled Drinking Water (Gosford City Council)
• Review and analysis of the community consultation and taste testing data – using proven core belief research techniques to
provide Council with a clear picture about degree of the challenge if faced over what timeframe to introduce recycled drinking
water into the region’s town water supply
• Preparation of a detailed confidential report to Council staff highlighting the top line results – the report also included an
explanation of what the findings meant for the proposed sewer mining pilot scheme and recommendations as to how Council
could move the pilot forward
• Preparation of a recommended long-term community education program over a 3-5 years period - to help garner community
support for the eventual introduction of recycled water for both potable and non-potable uses on the Central Coast
• The findings of the community consultation and taste testing process identified that the community had a deep seated fear of
the use of recycled water, particularly for drinking purposes and that Council would need to invest significant resources in
support of the proposed community education program - to generate sufficient support for its long term objectives
• On the recommendation of SMC, Council made the decision not to proceed with the sewer mining project or community
education program at this time due to the already ‘emotional’ environment in which these activities would be undertaken –
as a result of the region’s worst drought on record and continuing Level 5 water restrictions which were the most stringent in the
country with a total ban on the use of all town water outside
• The community consultation and taste testing processes have been mirrored by a number of other local government regions and
water authorities over the past two years – but the depth of opposition to the introduction of recycled water indicated in these
regions has been found to be very similar to that on the Central Coast
• To date, no local government organisation or water authority in Australia has yet introduced the widespread use of recycled
drinking water as part of a region’s town water supplies – SMC is continuing its own research into development of a
community education program capable of generating significant support to allow the successful introduction of a recycled
drinking water pilot scheme within a test community somewhere in Australia

Examples Of Our Work Saunders Mc Dermott Consulting

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