Former Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash, who championed Motorcycling NSW’s plans for a motorsports complex at Yerriyong, is gutted by the organisation’s decision to abandon the project.
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“I’ve had many disappointments in my life but after seven years to find one man who says he’s unqualified can stop this project is devastating, especially when we have these orchids up and down the coast,” she said.
She was referring to Alan Stephenson, a local orchid expert who discovered another population of orchids on the site and informed the Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP).
Motorcycling NSW announced its decision to pull out of the project on Friday, saying the discovery of 100 vulnerable orchids on the site made the plans untenable.
“I understand Motorcycling NSW’s decision. They’ve been working on this for seven years and still there’s not a shovel in the ground. Time just ran out,” Cr Gash said.
She said the orchid was protected under both state and federal legislation and something needed to be done to ensure these laws did not stifle projects such as the motorsports complex.
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LEAFLESS TONGUE ORCHID
- Scientific name: Cryptostylis hunteriana
- Conservation status in NSW: Vulnerable
- Commonwealth status: Vulnerable
- As its name implies, the Leafless Tongue Orchid has no leaf
- It produces an upright flower-stem to 45 cm tall, bearing five to 10 flowers between November and February
- It has small narrow green sepals and petals to 22 mm long, but is dominated by an erect narrow very hairy ‘tongue’ (the labellum)
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“We just can’t lock the gate,” she said.
Cr Gash thanked South Coast MP Shelley Hancock for being the “only state member” to support the project.
She also said the decision to abandon the project had nothing to do with Shoalhaven City Council, which despite some opposition had backed the track. If approved, council would have bought the land and leased it to Motorcycling NSW.
The Joint Regional Planning Panel was the body that would have approved the project.
We just can’t lock the gate
- Former mayor Joanna Gash
The panel had the proposal before it twice but when the population of vulnerable orchids was found, would have required a third hearing. Shoalhaven City Council had no control over this process.
Opposition from nearby residents focused on noise, concerns over which were addressed in the JRPP process. It was the discovery of the orchids that prompted to Motorcycling NSW to pull out.
The decision means Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis’s commitment of $9.75 million to part fund the track is dead.
That money will now go back into consolidated revenue.
“It has to because it was a competitive grant round,” said Mrs Sudmalis.
She described the loss of the project as “tragic for the region".
“It’s pretty appalling when you think about the high unemployment we have here. A whole raft of training and employment opportunities have been lost. What does that say to our young people trying to get a job?”
She said it was unfair that a small group of opponents could present new information to the JRPP so late in the approval process.
“It’s like sitting an exam then adding additional information after the whistle has blown.”