Nambour Now: 'Nothing achieved by shutting down businesses'

Helen Tagg: “Once critical infrastructure like car parking is lost, it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to replace.”

Howard Street Car Park Debate

Nambour Now chair Helen Tagg has urged councillors to reject the proposed sale of the Howard Street car park to Coast 2 Bay for housing – arguing that nothing would be improved by shutting down CBD businesses.

Speaking at the Nambour Chamber of Commerce meeting on April 2, Mrs Tagg rejected the “parking versus people” narrative.  “Nambour carries more than its fair share of responsibility, with a high concentration of community services and volunteers supporting a significant number of disadvantaged people, many of whom are not local,” she said after the meeting. “We are, and always have been, a compassionate and inclusive community.

“That said, this particular issue is not about housing. It is about the continued viability of our CBD,” Ms Tagg said.

“Once critical infrastructure like car parking is lost, it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to replace.”

Her comments came after Cr Law told the meeting he had heard the community’s concerns “loud and clear” and would represent those views, while still defending the need for more housing and declining to reveal how he would vote.

Mrs Tagg said the mood in the room left little room for ambiguity.

“Today, I spoke with a number of local business owners at the Nambour Chamber meeting. A vote was held, and not a single attendee supported the loss of this carpark,” she said.

“That level of consensus is significant and reflects real concern from those directly contributing to our local economy. If these carparks are lost, the future viability of the local business economy and CBD will face a substantial challenge.”

Mrs Tagg also used the meeting to outline the next steps being taken by Nambour Now.

She said the group had unanimously voted at its first committee meeting to oppose the loss of the car park and would push that position with a petition to be tabled with council.

“The first thing that we will be inviting community to do is actually sign a petition,” she told the room. “That will be passed around through the community.”

She said the group had already driven an earlier petition calling for proper community consultation, with that effort attracting more than 1000 signatures, while a second petition focused specifically on opposing the car park sale had now been launched.

Mrs Tagg took aim at the way the proposal had been framed.

“In the tabling for that meeting, if you read the statement that was going to go through, essentially what it said was ‘no known impacts’,” she said. “And the community actually disagrees with that strongly.”

She said council should not rely on feelings alone but on a proper impact assessment that considered the economic effects of removing such a critical parking asset.

“If businesses lose income, if people can’t pay their bills, Nambour is not a high socioeconomic area,” she said.

“So we want to make sure our local businesses don’t become homeless as well – as a result of not being able to pay their bills.”

Mrs Tagg said she believes the immediate priority for the community is to focus on the upcoming vote, rather than being expected to resolve broader housing challenges at this stage. “Ultimately what we really need right now is for councillors to vote no,” she said. “Everything following that can be assessed, but realistically, this vote is just about the sale.”

Her message was simple: protect the car park first, then continue the broader conversation as a community. “We don’t need to do their job,” she said. “We just need to tell them how we feel, which is no to that.”

Behind that message was a broader appeal for Nambour itself. “Nambour is a community that consistently gives,” Mrs Tagg said. “It is reasonable that we ask to be supported in sustaining the heart of our town.”

Nambour Now is petitioning again: Hands off Howard Street

Meanwhile, Nambour Now committee member and car park petitioner Sarah Vortman said the response to her petition had been overwhelming, with support from residents, businesses and service providers. Ms Vortman’s petition called for consultation & attracted over 1000 signatures in days and was instrumental in council’s decision to defer by eight weeks the vote to sell the car park. Sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/hands-off-howard-street-protect-nambour-s-cbd