The Fluffy Owners and Residents' Action Group wrote to Mr Barr on Monday, requesting he attend a meeting on Saturday that is expected to attract hundreds of affected families.

Group founder Brianna Heseltine said many were distressed by the impending departure of Chief Minister Katy Gallagher at the height of the crisis, and felt they were being "left in the lurch".

Ms Heseltine was also experiencing group anger directed at her, after months of trying to negotiate a settlement between homeowners and the government.

On Sunday morning, Ms Heseltine awoke to what appeared to be a possible slashed car tyre. "I don't know whether this was a desperate act by an angry owner to make me sit up and listen but I do know there are many people who are ropeable about the scheme. They see it as a land grab involving zero compassion. The ACT government needs to inject more fairness and flexibility into this scheme."

She also said many Mr Fluffy families held deep fears that as Treasurer, Mr Barr had been responsible for the harsher elements of the package because his focus was on recouping costs from the sale of land.

"These families want to meet Minister Barr and see him respond to their calls for a more compassionate and flexible scheme for rebuilders and those who want to stay," Ms Heseltine said.

Mr Barr said the Mr Fluffy buy-back scheme was a government priority.

"As a community we can't let Mr Fluffy homeowners go it alone and the government has just borrowed $762 million to assist homeowners. The scheme is fair and equitable and designed to assist those affected," he said.

Mr Barr said he would be briefed by the ACT Asbestos Response Taskforce in coming days and would be attending the Community and Expert Reference Group meeting on December 18. His office could not confirm whether he would attend the town hall meeting next Saturday.

"I will be keeping a close eye on the rollout of the scheme in the coming months," he said.

About half the group's 600 families want to keep their land and rebuild. They also want the first right to refuse rezoning, to be able to buy back at the surrender price and to gain early priority in the demolition scheme despite government plans to save on costs through a suburb-by-suburb demolition schedule.

Ms Heseltine said owners were keen to work with each other and the government to put forward groups of houses by suburb to be knocked down at the same time to assist in cost-saving.

Some families felt disadvantaged by waiting for the government to announce its buy-back scheme, preferring what was being delivered to those who knocked down prior to October 28 – which was house value and reimbursement for demolition costs.

Liberal Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said he had met with more than 100 Mr Fluffy families and believed there was fundamental dissatisfaction with the government's scheme.

While he and Ms Heseltine were not on speaking terms since it was revealed in September that she had joined the Labor Party, Mr Hanson said the government scheme needed to encompass fair prices for homeowners to repurchase their blocks without rezoning, allowing a small number of homeowners to remain on their blocks for the medium term and compensation for owners who had to contend with contaminated home and contents.

In response to Ms Gallagher's resignation Mr Hanson said "I absolutely understand the nerves of Mr Fluffy families as the government's response has got Andrew Barr's fingerprints all over it."

Despite their animosity towards each other Ms Heseltine and Mr Hanson also agreed the ACT Asbestos Response Taskforce needed to work through Christmas to ensure families had their homes valued and there were no hold-ups to those who needed buy-back funding to move forward with a purchase.

A spokeswoman for the taskforce said officers would be working up to and including Christmas Eve and would only be observing the ACT public service shutdown period of December 25 to January 1 – resuming work on January 2, 2015.

"During this time Canberra Connect would be taking taskforce calls and escalating those as necessary to an on-call senior taskforce officer to manage," the spokeswoman said.

Neighbours of surrendered properties would be given a dedicated number to report any concerns.

Mr Hanson said he believed the taskforce was chronically under-resourced and he had fielded numerous complaints that Mr Fluffy families had had to wait unacceptable timeframes to have their concerns addressed.

To date, the taskforce had received 682 opt-in forms from homeowners moving forward with a valuation.

The ACT branch of the Australian Property Institute had issued instructions to valuers on 550 properties with valuations being organised or in the process of taking place.

A total of 47 homeowners have now received both their valuation reports and at close of business on Monday the taskforce had made offers to homeowners to purchase 41 properties.

It seems unlikely, however, that the taskforce will meet the ambitious target to get through as many as 800 valuations – two for each of 400 homes – by Christmas.

No properties have as yet been referred by the taskforce, or requested by homeowners, for a presidential determination.