Jodi Small, daughter of the late wildlife warrior, Nancy Small, posted the application off to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) on August 6 and said the department had confirmed it had been received.

It has been a long, exhausting process for Ms Small, with required criteria including letters of guarantee for food supplies, a list of volunteers, qualifications of trained staff, a volunteer roster including tasks and the time they take, and information on every single animal, including a photo, feeding regime and microchip number.

“It was nearly 200-300 pages,” Ms Small said.

“It’s taken a long time. I understand how daunting it was for Mum.

“This is something you’d usually have a team working on.”

READ MORE: Gunnedah’s Waterways Wildlife Park is still fighting to re-open

Ms Small submitted a pre-application in February and received feedback from the DPI via letter in March with a request for more information including a business plan, operational plan, staff qualifications, population of animals and details of veterinary care.

Ms Small said it was a “relief” to get the full application in.

“We’ve done the best we can do with the support of other parks and the community,” she said.

“All we can do is wait now.” 

Waterways was closed by NSW DPI in April 2017 because of compliance matters. It currently has a Native Animal Keeper Licence, which was granted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in November 2017. It was originally set to expire in April but was extended until October 31.