Bright green T-shirts with the motto "Hands Off Cannon Hill" have been printed, the first 50 of them donated by Hip Pocket Workwear's Garry Mattner.

"We'll do more. It seems as though they're being requested," Mr Mattner said.

A business case into the possibility of siting an art gallery at Cannon Hill is under way and due to be completed in the first half of the year.

The decision to do the business case for Cannon Hill rather than the current site at the Civic Green came after a 4-3 vote of councillors and went against officers' recommendations in the council agenda.

The decision sparked backlash from veterans and parts of the community with a petition gathering about 5000 signatures.

Mr Mattner said he had been told by up to 30 family and friends they too would have signed the petition against a proposed art gallery at Cannon Hill if they had been aware of its existence last year.

"I just can't believe that councillors who are elected to represent constituents of Warrnambool City can take it on board to things that are against the wishes of the community," he said.

"Both this and the Warrnambool saleyards, but this is the one I've got my focus on at the moment. I don't know why they are wasting the money on doing the business case. It's wasting our ratepayers money. There's better things to spend it on."

The business case is being funded mostly with funding from the state government.

Mr Mattner said the current gallery should be made two-storey, and a grassed area put on the roof of the extension. He also suggested if it had to be built at Cannon Hill it should be further down the hill near the roundabout "so it's not taking the view that's iconic".

"There's so many different options but to choose this," he said. "If I sent someone from outside of Warrnambool to have an iconic view of Warrnambool, this is where I'd send them."

He said huge numbers of people used Cannon Hill any time of the day, all different demographics and ages.

Mr Mattner said he was pretty passionate against what the council was doing.

"I just can't see how one of the nicest views in Warrnambool, and maybe western Victoria, is going to be blocked off by something that probably won't have windows," he said.

T-shirts, which are available from Hip Pocket at cost price, follow the production of corflutes and bumper stickers.

Businessman Brian Guyett said they had run out of stickers, having handed out about 2000 of them, and were about to make another 1000 or 2000.

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