Neighbours hope pockets of butterfly orchids next to the River Tay at Balhomie could protect land from housing developments.
Perth and Kinross planners are already looking at the 5.74 hectares of woodland and rough grassland between the A93 and River Tay.
It is one of 200 pieces of land that could become a Local Nature Conservation Site (LNCS). That would protect the greater butterfly orchids growing there.
The designation could also protect the site from future “inappropriate development”.
Neighbours Michael Foreman of Balhomie House and George Logan have written to the council, pursuing the LNCS status.
They fear houses will be built on the land after a developer bought the plot for £160,000 last year.
The developer has not yet made an application for planning permission. Contractors, however, did complete some work without planning permission prior to the sale going through.
Balhomie butterfly orchids signal ‘important habitat’
Mr Foreman said: “Designating the land as a Local Nature Conservation Site would preserve an important habitat.
“It is feared that any further work carried out by the current owner…would damage its potential as a conservation site.
“If LNCS status is not granted, it is possible that the present or a future owner might argue it [the land] would then be available for development.”
Surveyors recorded 524 greater butterfly orchids on the site in 2006. A 2015 visit, however, recorded fewer orchids and land that had become “scrubby and overgrown.”
The ground was previously part of the Balhomie Estate. That was broken up in 1963 with the former garden gradually returning to nature.
Balhomie will be reviewed this year
A PKC spokesperson said: “Local Nature Conservation Sites provide a safeguard for locally important sites for biodiversity and geodiversity in the planning process.
“Where sites are in a good condition it usually because the owner has actively been managing the site for nature, although there is no requirement for active positive intervention.”
He said they were pursuing a programme to identify LNCS sites in Perth and Kinross.
“Part of the area identified in Balhomie is already under consideration as a Local Nature Conservation Site.
“Each site requires survey, assessment by an expert panel and discussions with the owners, and this area is scheduled to be reviewed this year.”
Conversation