The discovery of a rare species of orchid on the New South Wales South Coast has stymied plans for a multi-million-dollar crematorium development.
Murphy Funeral Homes has withdrawn its proposal after 101 leafless tongue orchids were found on the 60-acre property on The Wool Road at St Georges Basin.
Citizen scientist Chris Grounds said he made the discovery despite paid environmental consultants deeming the land free of the threatened flora.
"We went on a walk, we found it and various clusters," he said.
"I called Shoalhaven Council's environmental planners out to verify what we found – an independent verification – and they did.
"It's been registered with the Atlas of Living Australia and with the NSW BioNet Atlas through the threatened species officer — 11 sites, a number of which are on the footprint of the development.
It is the second time the rare species has thwarted plans for a development in the region.
A proposed $20m multipurpose motorsport complex was scrapped in 2017 when a local specialist discovered the same orchid at the Yerriyong site.
Plans to be re-lodged
Murphy's co-director Rhianon Roulstone-Murphy said fresh plans for the funeral home would be lodged once further investigations at the site determine the distribution of the plants.
"There is only five or six [orchids] within the footprint where we're planning to clear," she said.
"We're hoping that when we find where these six are that we'll be able to alter the footprint of the development and not harm them as well."
She said it would be an expensive exercise for the business to delay its plans for at least 12 months, when the next orchid season ends.
"It's very time consuming and stressful, and it's very costly, so it is difficult," Ms Roulstone-Murphy said.
"But we want to get this right.
"We want to make sure we treat that land as best we possibly can and not disturb anything that needs to not be disturbed."
She said there was wide support from the community for the development, which would include the construction of the crematorium and three chapels.
"We've had so many people say they want this to happen, they want the funeral home out there," ," Ms Roulstone-Murphy said.
'Completely out of place'
Tomerong Community Forum president Gary Bickford disagreed.
"I didn't find one person who was supportive of this development — they thought it was completely out of place," he said.
"There seems to be no justification as to why you would build it here.
"It's not just the orchid, it's the whole landscape itself.
"We don't believe that it would be possible to mitigate the impact on the orchids, to any extent, to be acceptable to the community."
