Nambour Now

31/08/2026

Events planned to celebrate Quota Park's refresh after a tough year

Nambour’s Quota Memorial Park is being reclaimed as a welcoming community space, with a calendar of free Sunshine Coast Council events planned following a year of intense public concern and sustained community advocacy.

Families, skaters, dog owners and community groups are being invited to rediscover the refreshed park. Council is partnering with Nambour Community Centre and Trinity Youth & Community Services to deliver skate lessons, yoga, family playdates and a skate competition.

Cr David Law - Division 10 said the events would help community members reconnect with the space, known locally as Quota Park, and celebrate the collaborative efforts that have helped keep the park beautiful and welcoming for everyone.

“Quota Park has always been an important community space, so it’s wonderful to see Council along with Queensland Police Service, IFYS and local community organisations making this a key focus area and all playing a role in helping this park shine,” Cr Law said.

Cr Law said the upcoming events were an opportunity for residents to experience everything the park had to offer. “Quota Park is a great local asset with a fenced playground and climbing play area for older kids, picnic area and barbecues, skate park, dog park and plenty of open space for recreation,” he said.

“I encourage locals to come along to an event and be part of the park’s next chapter as a valuable community hub.”

Quota Park Events starting in August include:

• Battle for Nambour on 22 August – free skate lessons, community park competition and best trick jam. Register your spot online or find more information on Battle For Nambour Instagram

• The Great Quota Park Playdate on 5 September – a family event featuring activities including art and craft workshops, skate clinic, games, yoga, face painting, storytime, music and drumming

• Regular Playdates from 17 September – ongoing fortnightly playdate sessions on Thursday afternoons at 2-4pm, with skate instructors on hand. Check Nambour Community Centre page for updates.

• Free yoga classes now run on Tuesday mornings in Quota Park through the Healthy Sunshine Coast program. Visit Healthy Sunshine Coast to register your spot.

In recent months, Council has completed clean-up activities, maintenance works, w**d management, graffiti removal and signage improvements in the park area.

As with all Sunshine Coast parks, cleaners visit daily to maintain the BBQs, shelters and amenities, while playground inspections take place every month and detailed operational checks are carried out every three months.

Parts of Quota Park are prone to flooding, presenting unique challenges and requiring strategic timing on some maintenance works.

“If you see something that needs a fix, please log a request through the Sunshine Coast App and we’ll get to it as soon as we can,” Cr Law said.

Tumultuous year for park

As previously reported by the Gazette, council workers and Petrie Creek BushCare volunteers were withdrawn from parts of the park last year because of reports of threatening and aggressive behaviour.

The park’s condition became a major community issue and safety advocate Helen Tagg launched a petition calling for public spaces to be made safe.

It attracted more than 1600 signatures and also called for suitable alternative locations with hygiene facilities, outreach and support for people experiencing homelessness in order to keep parks safe for families and school children.

That advocacy kept the condition and safety of Quota Park on the public agenda while encouraging a response that considered both community safety and the needs of vulnerable people.

26/08/2026

While I was in Victoria, I received some devastating news from home.

My dad, who is a small-scale, antibiotic-free beekeeper, has just lost his entire business overnight to the Varroa mite 😭

His entire life’s work, gone.

For those who don’t know, Varroa destructor is a parasitic mite that weakens honey bee colonies and spreads viruses. It has now spread throughout much of Australia, and the industry has moved from trying to eradicate it to managing its impact.

One of the major concerns raised by beekeepers has been the movement of huge numbers of commercial hives around the country for agricultural pollination, particularly during almond pollination season. My dad’s hives were in and around Wedderburn, my home town, and this movement has been a major concern for regional beekeepers.

But this is so much bigger than the financial loss.

For someone who has spent his life caring for bees, building healthy colonies and producing honey without antibiotics, losing the entire operation means losing years of knowledge, work, breeding, equipment and a way of life.

There is currently no compensation available for what has been lost, and the flow-on effects reach far beyond individual beekeepers. Bees are fundamental to pollination, agriculture and food production, so the decline of healthy bee populations is something we should all be paying attention to.

I’m not only devastated for my dad. I’m devastated for the many small-scale beekeepers facing the same reality, and for what this means for Australian agriculture and our pollinators more broadly.

This is a really scary and deeply sad crisis. 🐝💔

I know this isn’t the usual Nambour conversation, but I felt it was important to share what is happening to people in regional communities whose entire livelihoods can be wiped out almost overnight.

😢

- Helen Tagg

26/08/2026

“This is humanity.” ❤️ After an injury left Martin homeless, the Nambour Winter Shelter gave him hope, support and a pathway forward.

Now housed, studying and volunteering, he’s helping others through the same door that was opened for him.

Thank you to The Shack, the combined efforts of the churches, and every volunteer who made this possible. This is what our awesome Nambour community looks like.

‘This is humanity’: Program helps Martin turn his life around
- Winter Shelter Program

A workplace injury, the loss of his income and almost two months sleeping rough could have sent one Nambour Winter Shelter guest into a downward spiral.

Instead, “Martin” – whose full identity is being withheld at his request – said the program gave him the breathing space to begin rebuilding his life.

Martin had been working casually in construction when the injury occurred. “I couldn’t work because I was working in construction and when you work in construction, you’ve got to be fit,” he said. “After that, I had no cash flow, no income. And the only solution was sleeping in the car.”

Martin said he had previously lived comfortably and stressed his homelessness resulted from a temporary setback rather than a long-term situation. By the time he was directed to The Shack and Nambour Winter Shelter through local community services, he had been sleeping rough for almost two months.

“But this was life-changing,” he said. “It is the best thing to ever happen. This is humanity. This is what humanity should be about. I saw love here. I saw hope. I saw a future in this program.”

Martin decided to enrol in a course in order to be productive during his recovery time. He has a few modules left to finish.

Through connections made during the Winter Shelter program, Martin has since moved into The Shack’s Gen One Village men’s housing project in Nambour.

“This was a gift from heaven. I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “It’s very hard to find houses. It’s not easy. Especially with no income.”

Martin’s experience with the shelter did not end when he found somewhere to live. He returned twice as a volunteer to help other guests going through similar circumstances, while also continuing his studies and doing some tutoring in his spare time.

He said he hoped others sleeping rough would take up the opportunity if the program returned. “The door was opened to me,” he said.

“There were days here where there were only like three people and there were so many volunteers. If more people came, they could have been blessed too.”

The Nambour Winter Shelter brought together The Shack Community Centre, FlameTree Church, Sanctuary Park Church, Nambour Christian Church and Ignite Christian Church, with each hosting guests on different nights of the week and volunteers providing beds, meals, showers, conversation and company.

24/08/2026

Nice good news story on the progress featuring Pastor Dale from the shack & Marty Hunt MP.
Thanks for the little plug too for Nambour Now Marty! ❤️

24/08/2026

Hope to see some locals come along for this awesome community day and support making our Nambour parks more fun, welcoming and family-friendly!

11/08/2026

Year-long campaign delivers change at Quota Park:
Advocate says Nambour has turned a corner

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 look 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: w**ding, 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.

09/08/2026

Community raises $88,000 in three days for Cooper

The FIT KAT community has rallied around a 10-year-old boy undergoing treatment for leukaemia, raising about $88,000 in just three days.

Gym owner Kat Wilkinson told the Nambour Chamber of Commerce Coffee Catch-up on August 6 that Cooper, the son of one of the gym’s members, began chemotherapy 24 hours after his diagnosis.

She said he was expected to spend the next four to six months in Brisbane receiving intensive treatment.

“It’s something no family should ever have to face, but watching this community come together has been nothing short of incredible,” Ms Wilkinson said.

Fit Kat plans to hold a major fundraiser at the end of August to ease the family’s financial pressure while they focus on Cooper’s treatment.

Ms Wilkinson appealed to local businesses to donate raffle prizes, offer sponsorship or help in other ways.

“Every donation, big or small, will make a genuine difference,” she said.

Supporters can donate to the Go Fund Me page https://www.gofundme.com/f/coopers-brave-fight-against-aml-acute-myloid-leukaemia or or contact Fit Kat through its social media pages.

08/08/2026

No quick fix for empty CBD shops

A proposal to brighten Nambour’s long-vacant shopfronts with art has stalled because organisers cannot contact property owners, a chamber meeting has heard.

Nambour Now’s Jennifer Barker said she had spent about 18 months trying to arrange art installations in empty premises,in order to brighten the town, but had made no headway.

“We can’t get hold of any of the landlords. Nobody’s willing,” she told Ted O'Brien MP - Federal Member for Fairfax at the Nambour Chamber of Commerce Coffee Catch-up on August 6.

Ms Barker asked whether owners who deliberately left shops vacant should face tax consequences in the future. “It is a live conversation in Canberra, but at this stage, no,” Mr O’Brien said.

He said contacting owners remained the central difficulty and property rights limited what governments could do.

Mr O’Brien supported the art proposal as a way to bring “brightness” and “hope” to empty shops and urged Ms Barker to persist. “Please don’t let go of that idea,” he said.

Ms Barker also asked whether vacant commercial premises could be converted into housing. Mr O’Brien said that could be possible, but decisions ultimately rested with property owners.

05/08/2026

One year on from our petition, it’s encouraging to see police, council and our local MP publicly recognising both the community’s concerns and the progress that’s been made at Quota Park.

This is a significant milestone! It shows that when a community comes together respectfully and persistently, change is possible.

Thank you to every single person who signed, shared and supported this journey.

While there is still more to do, today is a reminder that your voice has made a difference ❤️🙏

-Helen

Police and government representatives have highlighted the steps they’re taking to improve confidence in a prominent public space.