The dilapidated former Mountain Maid Cannery in Batlow was operational until it closed in the early 2000s, but has sat idle and in a poor state of repair since.

Council opened an expressions of interest to commercial entities in October and director of strategy, community and development Gus Cox said its development will be a top priority to the Batlow community.

"We had some interest in that process and we're working with the submissions we had so we can move towards the next stage," Mr Cox said.

"Until we proceed further, we have elected to do a structural analysis of the building as well as finding any contamination on the site."

Mr Cox said the development has gained tourist and industrial proposals.

"We're definitely looking at re-purposing the cannery, but there are some targeted demolition works in places as there's some buildings which are severely dilapidated," he said.

"A general clean up of the site is needed, but we'd rather re-purpose the site than demolish all of it.

"It's high on council's radar and it's one of the number one priorities to the Batlow community."