Eng Lim is the type of person you want on your leadership team.
As Director, Infrastructure Services, his mindset is: ‘Why would you stick with good if there’s an opportunity for better?’ Eng is passionate about building resilience into Quilpie Shire’s strategy and operations, and it shows in his work. Find out how Eng is tackling innovative projects in a culture that supports big ideas.
A focus on problem solving
Eng Lim had never heard of Quilpie Shire until he came across the job ad for his current role in mid-2024. He was working for a Victorian council at the time, but Eng’s interest was piqued when he learnt about our ambitious plans for Quilpie’s future.
“I read the Annual Report and thought it was great that this council had big plans. In my previous roles at other councils, I often had ideas that couldn’t progress due to budget constraints. At Quilpie Shire Council, I saw the financial capability to take on different work, and I liked that very much,” Eng says.
So, Eng applied, quickly secured the Director of Infrastructure role and joined our team in Spring 2024. And he’s pleased to report that we meant what we said.
“Whenever I have an idea that’s maybe outside the norm, I can put it across to get feedback from the CEO and councillors, they’ll say, ‘OK, this is what we can accept, this is what we think needs fine-tuning.’ You can actually do a lot of things out here. That’s a strong attraction for me as a Director – being able to influence positive change.”
Eng puts this down in part to the unique, enabling culture at Quilpie Shire.
“There’s no office politics you find in other places. Everyone helps each other out, and that means we can focus on problem solving. The Councillors are elected to represent the community’s interests, not political parties, and that creates a really collaborative and supportive environment,” Eng says. “So, when you invest time in coming up with ideas and solutions, you know you can get on with it. We’re not just preparing reports but actually delivering. It’s a very different environment, which I enjoy.”
Bringing in new approaches
Eng is in charge of the department responsible for roads, water supply, sewage, landscaping, town maintenance, building maintenance and garbage collection across Quilpie Shire. It’s our largest department, with approximately 40 staff, and since Eng started, he has wasted no time in asking questions, proposing new ideas and making them happen!
One of his most significant proposals to date focused on increasing the resilience of our 2,000km-plus road network, much of which is gravel. Quilpie Shire, situated in the flat Channel Country, is prone to flooding. Many roads get cut during floods, and when gravel roads flood, it can take months to repair them.
“I said, ‘OK, we know we have money for repairs. What can we do differently, and how do we tap into the local knowledge so we do it smarter?’” Eng says
In collaboration with the community and his team, Eng started by identifying the most important road stretches impacted by flooding – the critical links that connect the local economy. Eng wants these to be the first targets for sealing or concreting.
His long-term goal is ambitious and will pay real dividends for Quilpie Shire.
“We can’t build Rome in a day, and we can’t stop the floods or climate change. But having more resilient assets will allow us to recover faster. Once we have key road sections sealed, this will allow us to open these roads again just a day or two after floods, so traffic and cattle trucks can get through. It’ll mean we can recover faster, and it’s better for people’s mental wellbeing and better for the economy.”
Where dinosaurs roam
As a child growing up in Malaysia, Eng was captivated by two things: astronomy and dinosaurs. Each week, he’d go to the public library and check out books on stars, supernovas and sauropods. When Eng moved to Quilpie to join our team, not only did he get to see the Milky Way in all its splendour, but he also got the unique opportunity to build a museum for Australia’s largest dinosaur! Talk about the stars aligning!
The dinosaur in question, affectionately known as Cooper, will be displayed in a three-storey-high gallery, so visitors can appreciate him in all his 30m-high glory. Eng is thrilled to be part of the team who will deliver this project.
“Not many people get the chance to be involved in building a dinosaur museum!” Eng laughs. “When it’s finished, it’ll be almost like in Jurassic Park, where you can see the dinosaur in front of you!”
Eng’s goal is to future proof the museum by making it resilient to climate change and ensuring it has low energy needs. If the budget allows, he’d like to work with an architect to incorporate used coffee grounds into the design. This is because recently, researchers found a way to convert coffee grounds into biochar, which can then be mixed with cement.
“We can’t build an entire museum with coffee,” Eng notes, “but we can probably use it to build some of the footpaths, and we will see if the cafes in town would like to contribute to the grounds. This brings in community participation and could help showcase the environmental aspects in the design.”
Eng says adopting ideas like this is all about showing that while Quilpie Shire Council may be small, with smart, motivated people, we can achieve great things.
“I always ask myself, once I know how to do something, ‘How do I do it better or faster?’ We have small teams, so it’s not about us working harder; it’s about us being excellent at what we do.”
