The capital works project is the largest single venture the council has undertaken and seeks to re-position the tourist town at the heart of the Shipwreck Coast.

Council had worked with Maddocks Lawyers and Hansen Partnership to prepare the construction contract and opened tenders from December 17 to February 11 but no bids have been received.

Council director of sustainable development Justine Linley said the unexpected outcome was "weird".

"It sounded like it ended up being too big rather than not enough which is sort of a weird thing," she said.

Despite the hitch, Ms Linley told The Standard the project remained on-track and would meet its construction deadline.

"Our funding agreement with both the state and federal governments require the whole project to be completed by the end of 2023 to 2024," she said.

"We're still on target to be able to do that. We made sure there was a buffer in there particularly in the context of COVID-19 and we also didn't want to do anything to disrupt businesses during their busy period."

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She said it was largely that timing condition which played a major role in deterring potential contractors.

"We know we had over 20 businesses download the tender document, so we had a significant level of interest and we did go back to those businesses to ask them why they didn't tender," Ms Linley said.

"We asked them whether the documentation wasn't clear enough or whether the timing or size of the project or requirements to have construction periods outside of the peak tourism periods in the town (was a factor).

"Most of the responses came back saying it wasn't the documentation but it was partially the timing of the tender.

"Putting the big package of works - the Lord Street package which is urban design - in the first year rather than the second year and also access to materials and subcontractors and sourcing those trades in a short period of time."

She said council would now consider other options for the tender, including splitting it into smaller sections to allow local contractors to bid for the project, or changing the works schedule and timing for parts of the project.

It's hoped the changes would mitigate risk around pricing and contractor availability.

The rising cost of building material and labour availability has already cost the shire an extra $1 million - in February, councillors approved a $985,614 increase to the shire's yearly budget after a quarterly review.

Additional costs of timber bridge deck replacements, road rehabilitation projects and the availability of contractors as seen across the construction sector were the major contributing factors.

Council is also endeavouring to open a project office in the township so residents and businesses can look over plans for the project and voice any concerns they might have.

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