The empty hospitality containers have been sitting at the wharf since February 2023, due to disagreements at council and state government levels, about how they should be plumbed for waste management at the site.

The project, which has been driven by a group of volunteers from the Eden Chamber, has in recent months been made all the more difficult by hostile social media posts.

The irony is that the waste management system first proposed by the Eden Chamber at the start of the project in 2022, is the one about to be used.

"In September 2023, Eden Chamber of Commerce received an email outlining council's position on progressing the waste management for containers. Council agreed that raising containers and below surface plumbing were deemed complex (a solution that had been suggested) and raised other DA modifications such as mobility access and potential fire hazard issues," Mr Wolske said.

Council recommended the use of an internal waste system.

"It should be noted that this recommendation provided in September 2023, by council, is identical to what we requested be approved in December 2022. It is apparent that our request for exemption was not fully actioned by council at that time," Mr Wolske said.

He said they were in a position where all parties were in agreement about the requirements for compliance with state legislation.

"From here we now engage a plumber to assist with finalising the connection of services. If we can get the plumber, source the equipment and the weather is OK it could be done in eight to 10 weeks time."

He said the delays, while frustrating, have provided opportunities such as the prospect of the Department of Education and the Disability Trust working together to run a functioning restaurant and hospitality training centre from one of the containers. "Another local person is keen to expand to two containers," Mr Wolske said.

The container project has been funded through the federal government's Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) fund. Applying for, enacting and acquitting large grants are onerous tasks taking a huge amount of time, particularly for volunteers who often have their own businesses or regular work.

"Leading up to and throughout the project development, there has been collectively over 4000 emails, telephone conversations and meetings to get this project to the current stage," Mr Wolske said.

The Eden Chamber paid $8000 to council for the DA and connection to water services for the project, some of which it hopes to recoup through an exemption from council. Council fees are not an eligible expense under the terms of the grant funding.

Mr Wolske said the uninformed attacks on social media haven't been limited to the Eden Chamber and the container project but have been made against volunteers running the Eden Log Cabin.

"The chamber has nothing to hide, the project completion date is 31 March 2025 and it is our goal to have this completed earlier and have businesses operating. And perhaps if the Facebook group were made aware of the number of projects funded through BSBR that have had delays and extensions, they might get the message that it's not just an Eden thing."