Call for special zoning to address homeless camps in sensitive areas

Mrs Tagg is advocating for both compassion toward homeless people and protection of sensitive environmental areas.

Homelessness petitioner Helen Tagg raised concerns about the growing homeless crisis, proposing special zoning to protect environmental corridors and areas near schools from encampments.

Mrs Tagg, 32, who has herself experienced homelessness, advocated for both compassion toward homeless people and protection of sensitive environmental areas in her petition on www.Change.org: ‘Make Our Parks and Public Spaces Safe Again: Take Urgent Action on Homelessness in Nambour’.

“So I have a lot of compassion towards this subject myself, but at the same time we’re having extreme issues within our environmental corridors such as Petrie Creek. My question is how are we working to protect those sensitive areas such as primary schools, playgrounds, creek corridors and sensitive environmental spaces from the influx of homeless camping? And in my opinion it’s not the right place and we need to provide other spaces for these people to be safe,” Mrs Tagg said.

Her proposal centres on creating specific overlays in the planning scheme that would designate certain areas as protected from camping “regardless of circumstance”, particularly focusing on “sensitive areas such as primary schools, playgrounds and creek corridors and sensitive environmental spaces”.

Mrs Tagg highlighted Petrie Creek as an example of an environmental corridor facing damage from encampments, expressing concern about the long-term environmental impact and restoration challenges.

The issue resonated with other attendees, with multiple residents raising related concerns about housing affordability and homelessness during the forum. One resident described the situation as a “homelessness crisis” requiring compassionate solutions, while other questioned what council was doing to address housing affordability more broadly.

Council representatives did not immediately respond to Tagg’s specific zoning proposal during the open forum portion of the meeting, though housing affordability, crime and homelessness emerged as key themes throughout the evening.