A change.org petition has been started by Coombs resident Alison Hutchison calling on the government to ask the shops developer, Renato Cervo, to front a community meeting and explain his intentions.

Mr Cervo's most recent promise was in February when he said the centre would be open "very soon''.

Four months later, the centre remains empty.

Mr Cervo initially hoped to have the shops open by mid-2016. He said on Wednesday he had not secured a tenant for the supermarket but was working very hard and wanted people to back off. Mr Cervo would not be drawn on an opening date. He blamed objections about the previous design of the shops had put the development back a year.

"I'm trying very hard,'' he said.

"I've told you before, it took 27 weeks to get the power. I'm stressed enough. Why pick on one individual? I've lost a lot of money over there. Why people pick on me? Why not leave me alone?''

The ACT government has said Mr Cervo technically has until 2019 to open the centre. But Mrs Hutchison said nobody would have expected local shops for Coombs to still not be open in mid-2018 when more than 5800 people now live in Coombs and Wright.

Mrs Hutchison said she wanted Planning Minister Mick Gentleman, in particular, to "work pro-actively with the developer to address and resolve the current totally unsatisfactory situation''.

"We consider that residents of Coombs and Wright are entitled to public accountability on the progress of critically important social infrastructure such as the Coombs Community Local Shopping Centre,'' she wrote in her letter.

"It is not reasonable to simply say that the developer has until late 2019 to complete the project and therefore residents must watch and wait in silence until then.

"Those of us who have spoken to the developer personally have been met with responses that include hostility, derision, anger and, on occasions, personal abuse. This is just not acceptable.''

Mrs Hutchison said the government should ask Mr Cervo to address  the next Mingle community information night for Wright and Coombs residents, scheduled for November.

She said residents wanted to know if there were difficulties securing tenants for the complex, particularly a supermarket, and if the rival proposed development, Koko Molonglo,  slated for across the road in Wright was having an impact.

Mrs Hutchison said there was now talk the whole Coombs shops site was up for sale but residents deserved solid information "not social media rumour''.

"We have set a deadline because we do not want this uncertainty to drift into 2019,'' her letter read.

"If the Coombs Community Local Shopping Centre is not open by November 2018, we petition the government to invite the developer, Renato Cervo, or his representative, to attend that meeting and hence be publicly accountable for the status of this critically important infrastructure.''

Mrs Hutchison said other local shops being built at Denman Prospect was not the answer because residents in Coombs would need to drive to get there.

"A lot of people chose to live in Coombs specifically so they could be within walking distance of a designated shopping centre in our own suburb. There is also a lot of public housing built strategically close to the local centre,'' she said.

Mr Gentleman has been contacted for comment.