It comes after revelations the budget for the project blew out by up to $60 million dollars and could cost up to $100 million to build. 

To date, no funding has been secured for the project.

Cr McIntosh said original plans drawn up by the council for the hub had a price tag of about $30 million.

But she said the total cost of the project had soared significantly due to safety and guideline requirements set by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.  

The Courier understands plans to store large air-tankers (LATS) had also contributed to the budget blow-out.

“We originally pitched this project to sensible framework which we as council believed would deliver the need required,” Cr McIntosh said. “But it was requested by CASA that we extend and add to the projects original design to ensure it met their requirements.” 

The State’s Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said he will work with experts to determine what cuts can be made to get the project off the ground.  

Mr Lapsley said hub should not be ruled out and hoped a decision on its future would be made in the first quarter of 2017. 

If built, the hub would become a central emergency services airport which would store major aircraft used to service the state and South Australia. 

Cr McIntosh said the council supported any modifications to the plan providing it still ticked all the boxes of a state-of-the-art aviation hub.

“We want to know any hub we build will have the fastest delivery times and air space travel to protect communities during emergencies,” she said. “We support this conversation with Craig Lapsley, Emergency Management Victoria, the state and federal governments because we know this project can be structured in a different way.

“It’s about refining it and re-working the design elements of the project to stage it in a way that we know will still deliver.”