In late February, 2019, the council was awarded $3 million from the ET to bring the project to life, which will allow residents to recycle kitchen scraps and possibly animal by-products in the future.

But, delays in development application approval and changes to the delivery model have left the project far behind its original schedule as the funding agreement hangs in the balance.

Cr Marc Sutherland said he supported the recommendation and felt it was a great step forward in the right direction.

"Moving forward in the food and organic recycling space is something that most residents are passionate about and asking for an extension with the grants - I think it's great to extend it to make sure the work can be done at the level we really require," he said.

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As a result, the council will need to ask the ET to approve the new dates for the build to keep the $3 million it was promised.

The new dates would see the final milestone, when the project is commissioned at the end of construction, licenses are obtained and the council can start to process kitchen scraps from the community, reached by April 2024, instead of July.

Should the council and the ET not agree to the revised milestones, a report to councillors argues "it is possible grant funding for the project would be withdrawn and, were the project to proceed, council may have to fund an additional $3 million towards the project and repay any funds already paid".

A report to the councillors said that notwithstanding some issues with the proposed amendments to the milestones, it was "good news" the ET was prepared to vary the terms of the funding feed and will continue to provide $3 million towards the cost of establishing the facility.

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