Murweh wins 2025 Butch Lenton Award
Published on 31 October 2025
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Murweh Shire Council will receive a $10,000 bursary from Peak Services as winner of the 2025 Butch Lenton Memorial Bush Council Innovation Award, announced at the Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference last week.
The winning project was developed by Murweh Shire Council’s Director of Engineering Services, Jacob Barton, who designed a low-cost system to capture and transmit floodwater data to mobile devices using the narrowband IoT network.
MEDIA RELEASE: Murweh Shire Council awarded 2025 Butch Lenton Memorial Bush Council Innovation Award
Murweh Shire Council will receive a $10,000 bursary from Peak Services as winner of the 2025 Butch Lenton Memorial Bush Council Innovation Award, announced at the Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference last week.
The winning project was developed by Murweh Shire Council’s Director of Engineering Services, Jacob Barton, who designed a low-cost system to capture and transmit floodwater data to mobile devices using the narrowband IoT network.
Murweh Shire Mayor Shaun Radnedge said the project showcases innovation in action and provides practical solutions to challenges faced during natural disasters.
“We’re really proud of Jacob and the low-cost solution he has built to monitor our shire’s road network floodway flood water heights. He installed the flood monitoring devices and built the notification platform himself – with his low-cost flood monitoring solution having already been rolled out across 40 locations in the Murweh and Quilpie Shires,” Mayor Radnedge said.
“This is a flood monitoring solution that could be implemented across all local government areas.”
Peak Services CEO, Brett Fraser, congratulated Murweh Shire Council and praised the strong field of contenders for the 2025 award.
“This project perfectly embodies what the Butch Lenton Memorial Award stands for; innovation, practicality and community benefit,” Mr Fraser said.
“It’s an excellent example of engineering ingenuity that will serve Murweh and other councils well into the future.
“The quality of submissions this year was exceptional - with only one point separating first and second place”.
Philip Keirle, CEO of Cloncurry Shire Council and recipient of the 2024 Award, commented that the project meets the goal of developing innovative solutions that deliver more for less.
“This project effectively demonstrates the ability for one very capable individual to come up with an idea that could potentially be rolled out all over Queensland, providing improved flood monitoring capability at a lower cost which is the ultimate aim of innovation,” said Mr Keirle.
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About the award:
The Butch Lenton Award recognises innovation in Queensland’s bush councils and celebrates the contribution the late Mayor of Winton Shire, Graham ‘Butch’ Lenton, made to his beloved community of Winton and the local government in Queensland.
Previous winners include Balonne Shire Council, Goondiwindi Regional Council, Burke Shire Council, South Burnett Regional Council, Barcaldine Regional Council, Charters Towers Regional Council.
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High res image available on request.