But frustrated developers, held up for five years by legal challenges from competing supermarket stakeholders, said they were the driving force behind negotiations even though the government had done some of the "heavy lifting".

Planning Minister Mick Gentleman told the Giralang Residents Action Group last month the government had been working hard to encourage the commercial parties to reach an agreement which would deliver an outcome for all involved, and was "confident that a resolution will soon be reached".

"We are of a firm belief that in order for any shops to be delivered to the community that some compromise must be reached," he said.

Residents group co-chair Bill Burmester said the community continued to strongly back the 1500 square metre supermarket plan approved for the Canopus Crescent site by then Planning Minister Simon Corbell in 2011, and Mr Gentleman should be publicly standing by the decision, as any smaller size would likely leave the site too small for Woolworths.

"Now that Kaleen Supabarn has been sold to Coles, [the Giralang site] is down the road from a Coles store, and the best thing for competition is to get a Woolies," he said.

Developer Nikias Diamond's solicitor, Chris Wheeler, said government changes in 2012 capping the size of future supermarket proposals in local centres meant there were only three size options to be considered in negotiations: 1500 square metres, a new application which would be constrained to 1000 square metres, or zero, meaning no build at all.

"The parties have been looking to explore opportunities of where there can and can't be agreement, and that can be a very difficult thing when you have competitive enemies speaking to each other," he said.

"The Minister and the government are minded to get an outcome of local shops, and they have been quite supportive in doing some of the heavy lifting in our negotiations; they have not been remote."

Mr Wheeler would not comment directly on Woolworths' interest in a smaller site, but said the viability of an 1000-square block had always been a "serious concern".

A large concrete slab was poured at the site earlier this year, but Mr Wheeler said there had been no work done since, after a threat of injunction.

After earlier challenges which extended to the High Court, the parties are now waiting on a judgment from the ACT Court of Appeal after a hearing last July where opponents of the development challenged the validity of Mr Corbell's original decision.

The residents group has no formal membership but had 402 likes on Facebook as of this week.

A lawyer for the opponents declined to comment. There was no comment from Woolworths on Friday.

Correction: An earlier version of this article said Argos Pty Ltd challenged the validity of Mr Corbell's original decision in a current ACT Court of Appeal case. Argos was a party to earlier legal proceedings, but had its appeal dismissed by the High Court in late 2014 and is not a party to the current Court of Appeal case. The lawyer for the opponents said he no longer acts for Argos.