One year on: Advocate says Nambour has turned a corner
Helen Tagg with her children at Quota Memorial Park, where her year-long advocacy helped bring about positive change. At heart she wanted to see public spaces where families felt safe, vulnerable people were treated with dignity, and those responsible for responding to the challenges could work together on practical solutions rather than simply passing responsibility from one place to another.
Year-long campaign delivers change at Quota Park:
In July 2025, community advocate Helen Tagg launched a petition calling for a coordinated response to safety concerns at Quota Memorial Park. One year on, she says she finally feels hopeful that Nambour is moving in the right direction.
Recent public statements from Sunshine Coast Council and Member for Nicklin Marty Hunt, together with visible improvements at the park, mark a milestone after a year of sustained community advocacy.
“When I walk through Quota Park now, I can see the difference,” Mrs Tagg said. “It’s encouraging to see the park being cared for again, and I know many people in our community have noticed it too. There’s still more to do, but seeing positive change gives me hope.”
It’s a sharp contrast to the situation that prompted her to act. When the campaign began residents, businesses, volunteers and community organisations had been raising concerns about safety and the condition of one of the town’s most valued public spaces. Families were questioning whether they felt comfortable using the park, BushCare volunteer activities were suspended and some council maintenance was suspended over safety concerns during this period.
“I kept waiting for something to change, but it was only getting worse,” Mrs Tagg said. “That’s when I launched the petition.”
Through it all, Mrs Tagg showed what courage can looks like at a local level. She stepped forward to say what many in Nambour felt unable to say, navigated the complexities of local politics and persisted when it would have been easier to walk away. Yet she did so in a way that sought to bring people together rather than divide them. At heart she wanted to see public spaces where families felt safe, vulnerable people were treated with dignity, and those responsible for responding to the challenges could work together on practical solutions rather than simply passing responsibility from one place to another.
As support grew, Mrs Tagg was drawn into stakeholder discussions and later founded Nambour Now, a grassroots campaign bringing residents together to push for a coordinated response.
What began as a petition turned into a broader conversation about how government, community organisations and residents could work together on a complex problem.
‘Nothing about this has been easy’
“Nothing about this has been easy,” she said. “Getting different agencies and levels of government to work together is incredibly difficult. I wasn’t asking one level of government to solve everything. I was asking each to consider: what is our responsibility, and how can we contribute to the solution?”
The campaign was not without setbacks. In April, Mrs Tagg received correspondence from Sunshine Coast Council noting that her continued advocacy could be considered under its Unreasonable Conduct Policy, citing communication on issues deemed already addressed. She said it left her feeling discouraged at a time when she was trying to actively resolve ongoing safety concerns.
“Our message to council was always simple: we wanted to feel heard. Instead, many of us were left feeling dismissed.”
Mrs Tagg later met separately with Mayor Rosanna Natoli and divisional councillor David Law. “I came away from those meetings with peace,” she said. “My understanding was that the correspondence I received did not reflect the approach they wanted to take.”
Looking back, Mrs Tagg says the greatest disappointment wasn’t that people held different views, but how long it took for genuine collaboration to emerge. “It shouldn’t take a year for a community’s concerns to be heard and for the right people to come together around the table.”
That began to change in May, when Mrs Tagg met with Mayor Natoli and MP Marty Hunt to discuss practical solutions. She thanked the Mayor for engaging constructively, and credited Mr Hunt with standing alongside the community from the very beginning of the campaign. “Having never engaged with Marty before, I was grateful he took me at face value and supported and advocated on behalf of our community,” Mrs Tagg said.
Following the meeting, Mayor Natoli confirmed the discussion in a post on Facebook, saying she had met with Mr Hunt and Nambour Now advocate Helen Tagg to discuss issues around Quota Park. She described the meeting as a positive step for the community and said all parties had agreed to keep the channels of communication open while continuing to work together.
The following month brought a tangible sign of that progress. In late June, almost a year after she first began advocating for the park, Mrs Tagg asked for some practical maintenance: weeding, cleaning, pressure washing of equipment and fresh mulch. Within weeks, the work was done. “It’s so weird to say this, but seeing that mulch, I thought, ‘Wow, we actually did it.’ It brought tears to my eyes,” she said.
She thanked the council staff who carried out the work.
Mrs Tagg said people outside Nambour might struggle to understand why a park could mean so much. “Quota Park isn’t just a random place,” she said. “It’s the centre of our town, our mini-Central Park. It’s where we socialise, where we gather for Anzac Day, and where so many of us drop our kids off for school. That creek running through it is the natural lifeblood of our town. And to see it all cared for is a wonderful thing. I get that we can’t solve everything, but if we all work together, we can do amazing things.”
She said the campaign had also shone a light on issues that had developed in the park over many years. Reflecting on the year, Mrs Tagg said it reinforced her belief that lasting change comes when communities remain engaged. “This was always an issue bigger than one person. Residents, volunteers, community services, local businesses, council staff and elected representatives all had a part to play. I'm grateful to everyone who stayed engaged."
She said her Christian faith and resilience built from her own experiences of family violence and homelessness as a teenager carried her through. She hopes to see more local systems emerge to help keep things accountable going forward.
People power moved the needle
“What this year has shown is that people power moved the needle,” she said. “Never underestimate what being respectful and staying unified can achieve. It does bear fruit.”
The campaign also came at a personal cost. “My husband and kids were incredibly patient, but my children are still very young and they gave up a lot,” she said. “There were long days and broken sleep. I was a sleep-deprived mum trying to hold it all together.”
Looking ahead, she hopes the situation in Nambour serves as an example of what’s possible when communities are heard and governments choose to work together. “We still have work to do, but for the first time in a long time I genuinely believe we’re moving in the right direction.”
Reflecting on the year that had been she said: “There were times I wanted to give up, but I’ve learned that some things are worth persevering for, even when you can’t yet see what they’re producing.”
Pictured: Helen Tagg with her children at Quota Memorial Park, where her year-long advocacy helped bring about positive change. At heart she wanted to see public spaces where families felt safe, vulnerable people were treated with dignity, and those responsible for responding to the challenges could work together on practical solutions rather than simply passing responsibility from one place to another.
