NSW businessman John Hawkins has offered to pay $500,000 for a 99-year lease on Entally and spend about $1.2 million on maintenance.

Meeting chairman and Meander Valley Council candidate Michael Ferguson said the gathering was a chance for people to become more informed about the issue and make their views known.

After the meeting he summed up the mood as controlled anger.

He said it was a triumph for ordinary people against a mentality that secret deals and a denial of public interest were acceptable.

The five speakers at the meeting were Hadspen resident and Australian Heritage Commission commissioner John Temple, long-time Entally volunteer worker Cliff Walters, Opposition Leader Rene Hidding, Tasmanian National Trust president Marion Myhill and Carrick resident Robert Henley.

Dr Myhill said the trust believed the Hawkins offer was the best it would get and would deliver superlative restoration for both the building and the site.

Outside the meeting she said the National Trust was looking more deeply into the offer and telling the State Government it was a good idea.

She said she did not know when a detailed proposal would be made public and it was up to the Government to decide if the matter should go to tender.

Mr Hidding said the Opposition had no problem with Mr Hawkins making an offer, but it had to be tested in the marketplace by an open tender to make sure it was the best.

"We are prepared to consider anything that anyone suggests, but it has to be open and transparent," he said.

Mr Hidding said it was disappointing that the Premier or a representative did not attend, because the Government had been invited.

Mr Henley said he lived in a heritage building at Carrick that had once been part of the Entally estate, and he was angry, appalled and disgusted at the secrecy of the trust and the Government.