After a long career as a commercial builder working up and down the NSW South Coast, Neil Rankin hoped selling a restored heritage pub to a Sydney developer who swept into his home town with multimillion-dollar plans would set him up for a quiet retirement.

Like many in Eden, a small port town at the very southern end of NSW, Rankin was initially charmed by John Palasty and his Virtical group’s plans to build a $100 million luxury resort, dubbed Sapphire of Eden, on the site of the former Fisherman’s Club.