Armidale police will look again at an unsolved arson mystery that destroyed a club building at a site later chosen as the national pesticides authority's new home.
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The investigation into the September 2016 fire, deemed arson in a coronial inquest, is expected to continue next year as police in the northern NSW town review more evidence.
Police expected to receive more information recently and said the case remained open after the coronial inquiry in February failed to find the culprit.
The arson mystery has gained the attention of Labor senators who at an October parliamentary hearing questioned federal government officials about the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority's search for a site in Armidale.
Agriculture Department officials revealed at the budget estimates hearing that a bid to host the agency at the Armidale Club site appeared three weeks after the attack. They said the government advertised it was looking for a property to host the agency in the town on September 15, 2016, a day before the fire.
Coroner Michael Holmes in February found the property, at 91 Beardy Street, had been destroyed by fire caused when an unknown person or persons poured petrol in the building and ignited it.
The fire and its aftermath began a dispute pitting former lessee and club owner Kate Richards against then-property owner Burgess and Bayfoyle. Ms Richards threatened to sue for loss of profits and failing to insure the building. Property owner Gary Burgess has denied Ms Richards is still the leaseholder.
Senior constable Matt Roberston on Tuesday said the police inquiry into the case remained open and that he would inquire further early next year after receiving more information.
"We will see if we can corroborate any of the information," he said.
"Some things can be done quickly, others might take an extended period of time."
Police have previously discounted Ms Richards and her associate Allen St James as suspects, saying the pair were underinsured, had just received an expanded licence, tried to restart afterwards and had been trading well.
They also ruled out Mr Burgess, saying he had nothing to gain because the building was uninsured.
Police rejected as unlikely that the fire was random, centring their suspicions on a security guard who worked at the club and who killed himself the day after the fire. The coroner, though, described the man's suicide as a "matter of real coincidence", saying his death was related to "unresolved personal issues" and finding there was no evidence tying him directly to the fire.
A proposal to host the pesticides authority at 91 Beardy Street appeared in an initial search for tenders run by the Agriculture Department in September 2016, however government officials last month said there was no evidence the site's former owner Burgess and Bayfoyle was involved.
Following a later search for tenders run by the pesticides authority, Queensland-and-Victoria-based developer Stirloch Group won the contract to build a two-storey office at 91 Beardy Street and neighbouring property 102 Taylor Street. The APVMA has signed a 15-year lease with the company for its space in the building.
Burgess and Bayfoyle sold the property to Stirloch Group in March this year.
The pesticides authority is moving to Armidale after a Coalition election promise in 2016. Its relocation from Canberra was a project driven by Barnaby Joyce, member for New England, and was decided by an order from Finance Minister Mathias Cormann on November 24 that year. Agency chief executive Chris Parker has since decided to keep some staff in the national capital.
