Several committee members have since stood down from their roles following the dispute.

Committee member Sherene Blumer has accused Griffith City Council of "hijacking" the $3.65 million project after the committee signed over the deed to council in February.

However mayor John Dal Broi said Mrs Blumer was talking "nonsense", claiming that she had a "huge pecuniary conflict of interest" as the project's original designer.

Mrs Blumer drew up the original designs for an earth-covered green building to house a new centre, but council rejected that design after a costing found it would blow out the budget.

However Mrs Blumer claimed council had "seriously inflated" the figures by deliberately including unnecessary costs into the equation, such as a space for another Country Universities Centre.

"They've changed their parameters without being honest about the fact they've changed their parameters," Mrs Blumer said.

Mayor John Dal Broi said he stood by the decision to reject Mrs Blumer's plan, insisting it could not realistically be brought within budget.

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"We looked at tweaking the building plans, but the [council] committee were of the opinion that we couldn't delete items within the building and still have a fully functional building," Councillor Dal Broi said.

"If we blow the budget the people that are picking up the deficit are the ratepayers of Griffith."

Council's subcommittee have instead opted for a cheaper, more standard building design that is more than twice the size of the original plan.

The original plan was for a 450 square metre green building, but council's alternative plan is now almost 1000 square metres following a large number of Expressions Of Interests from people who are interested in using the space.

Council's subcommittee is two members short at the time of writing, and council are currently advertising both of those positions to members of the community.

Mrs Blumer denied having pecuniary conflict of interest, insisting she'd only received a "nominal" fee for drawing up the plan and had never intended to take the project to tender.

Mrs Blumer has been on the committee for the last ten years, and she said she'd always been transparent about her activities during that time.

"It hadn't been a problem for the last ten years, until we got the money," she said.

"I've done a huge amount of work for almost nothing - that's my contribution to the community."

She's since sought legal advice on how to take back the deed to the project, but was told she'd have to wage a prohibitively expensive legal battle against council and the state government.

The $3.65 million funding was announced last year by former Member for Murray Austin Evans, following years of lobbying from members of the Griffith Community Centre.

Members of the community centre have long been lobbying state government to replace the old building, saying that it is no longer fit for purpose.

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