It has been a long wait for news on the redevelopment of the Sons of the Soil Hotel, an iconic pub dominating Coonamble's main street, but it now seems the site will remain in council hands a while longer.

A report to a closed session of Coonamble Shire Council during their meeting on Wednesday 9 April revealed that the purchaser had so far failed to satisfy the condition of sale.

The previous Council accepted an offer from a Melbourne-based construction company 'Contract Control Services' on 6 August 2024.

The company had proposed to construct a supermarket at the rear of the site and retain the original hotel building to provide upstairs accommodation and ground floor retail or office space.

An initial contract was signed on 16 August, just days before all local councils went into 'caretaker mode' ahead of the 2024 Local Government Elections.

The SOTS was once a beloved pub in the heart of Coonamble.

One of the conditions of the sale was that a Development Application be submitted within thirty days of signing the contract.

"That deadline passed and nothing was received in the months following," said Barry Broe, Director of Community, Planning, Development & Environment.

"We rang again after the council meeting in February and advised that council had provided an extension to 31 March."

Mr Broe said that a partial application was received on the day of the deadline so councillors then considered that information and whether to proceed to contract or not.

"Council was really hoping that the prospective purchaser would hand in a DA by the deadline so we'd know if we had a development," said Mayor Danny Keady.

"Council has given them plenty of time to submit the application."

After some discussion, councillors resolved to seek legal advice with the intention of cancelling the contract and then sound out the market for other interested buyers.

"It's disappointing for us and the community after all the to-ing and fro-ing and all the associated costs that we don't have a development yet," said Cr Keady.