Foy owes just under $3 million on the block it bought last year from the Land Development Agency, but missed settlement on June 26 this year.

The office of Greens Cabinet minister Shane Rattenbury has told residents the sale is now in dispute, but it appears that information is incorrect. The government says "the parties are in discussion as to a completion date" but has otherwise refused to comment, and Foy has not responded to efforts to make contact.

A departmental spokesperson said Foy had paid a 5 per cent deposit and was supposed to pay the balance of the $3.12 million purchase on July 18.

Asked whether Foy had requested any other consideration in relation to the block or indicated that it no longer wanted the block, the spokesman said, "The Suburban Land Agency has had no direct contact with them."

Confusingly, asked about land works at estimates hearings on June 26, a departmental official said extra work had to be done to fix a spring that had "pumped up" on site before it could be settled. Ms Berry wrote to the estimates committee a week later, saying drainage work had been completed on May 10, with a settlement date of June 26.

Asked how much the government had spent preparing the site for sale, a spokesperson said, "No specific costs have been incurred in relation to Foy purchasing the block. Work was undertaken getting the subdivision (of three blocks) ready for sale including laying asphalt and providing power and drainage."

Foy bought the block for its controversial plastics-to-fuel factory, but the plan was effectively killed off by the findings of a health panel in May. The panel found in a report released on May 4 that the plant, a mix of "chemical processing facility, mini crude oil refinery and fuel storage facility", posed too many risks for unproven technology . And it said the ACT should require proof of performance before approving the project.

The following day, Foy updated the Australian Stock Exchange on the project, saying the panel had "suggested a pilot plant to assist in confirming the research results lodged by Foy during the approval process".

Foy said it would have a plant operating in Britain in the next 12 months which would "basically duplicate the planned ACT site" and provide the data the ACT needed to give the Hume project the green light.

"The company expects to retain the Hume site while it continues to work through the ACT regulatory process and provide education to the local community," Foy's statement to the stock exchange said.

Now, Foy has called a meeting for August 7 to approve a restructure of the company, which would see Foy acquire the assets of an associated company, Integrated Energy Solutions, which owns the waste to energy technology that Foy plans to use. Three of the four Integrated Energy directors are also directors of Foy, and the biggest shareholder of Integrated Energy, with 49 per cent, is Paul Dickson, who owns 10 per cent of Foy.

Foy also plans to issue more shares to raise $15 million - providing "capital expenditure to design and construct a plant in the ACT" and pay for the land, among other things.

An independent assessment of the proposal judged the transaction not "fair" to shareholders, given the impact on share price, but nevertheless "reasonable" in the absence of a better offer.

Foy generated no revenue and its future depended on raising sufficient funds, the report said. Management believed it had exhausted equity raising options, was unable to raise debt, and had found no other sources of capital. Without that, it might have to wind up. The acquisition provided an alternative business direction.