Bachrach Group, which owns the complex, announced in November last year its plans to spend $20 million in upgrading the centre.

But that upgrade will be delayed as the mall’s owners work to appease the queries of Dubbo City Council and other groups.

Under the owners’ proposal, an additional 3600 square metres of leasable shop space and an extra 160 car parks would be made available, including an undercover carpark area.

However the development application (DA) phase has proved to be lengthy, with Bachrach given a sizeable list of queries to answer about the “complex” application.

“We had about 90-odd points to answer about our application,” Bachrach group general manager Steve Gooley said.

“We then got that down to four or five and last week we sent off correspondence we hope will answer those four or five.

“The matter is now back in council’s hands and we are hoping to get word back from council by the end of the month.”

The best case scenario would be the development starts at the end of April, a couple of weeks later than the original Easter timeframe announced in November.

That will depend on council’s response to answers put forward by Bachrach.

“If council gets back to us by the end of the month, we will put it out to tender which will take four or five weeks and then you have a small wait before the construction begins so the end of April is our best timeframe,” Mr Gooley said.

A number of retailers, including fashion outlets and service providers such as banks, are being targeted to fill the new space however none have signed on the bottom line yet.

“We have had conversations with a whole range of franchises and had a lot of interest and once we get the DA through we will be able to advance those talks,” Mr Gooley said.