The real reason behind Erin Patterson's court bombshell - as her jail conditions are revealed

Accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson has asked that her committal hearing be held in her local area despite it meaning extra jail time - with her lawyer revealing why.

Ms Patterson, 48, appeared in LaTrobe Valley Magistrates' Court via video-link for a special hearing on Monday - her first public appearance in over five months.

The mother-of-two is being represented by barrister Colin Mandy SC in what is expected to be a three-week committal hearing.

Mr Mandy argued there were 'powerful reasons' for the hearing to take place in Ms Patterson's local community in Leongatha, eastern Victoria, noting that many of the witnesses would be coming from there.

'Those are her instructions, your honour. She would like to have her committal heard... in her local community,' he told Magistrate Tim Walsh.

'It's not only a matter of principle, there are powerful reasons for a committal having to take place in Ms Patterson's local community.

'The proceedings should be held in the community where the offences are alleged to have taken place, closer to her home.'

Mr Walsh said he could not accommodate the preliminary hearing in the court in Morwell, 60km from Leongatha, because it was booked out.

He warned that a delay could see Ms Patterson spend an extra 15 months in custody on top of the 172 days she has already spent behind bars.

Criminal defence lawyer Celine Khoury told Sunrise host Natalie Barr that it could be up to two years before Ms Patterson's trial takes place.

'So, as we've heard, committal is not going to be until next year. I think they're saying three weeks. But these things can blow really far out,' she said.

'So if we're not getting a committal for until next year, I don't think we're going to be seeing a trial for at least a year and a half to two years.

'But the first step is to try to get the committal done. And once we've crossed that bridge, then a magistrate will make a decision as to if there's enough evidence to uplift the matter to the Supreme Court.

'If there's enough evidence for it to go before a jury, then Ms Patterson will enter. Guilty or not guilty, the matter will be uplifted. And then she will be tried.'

On Monday, Crown prosecutor Sarah Lenthall objected to the proposed delay and said the committal hearing should proceed 'as soon as possible'.

Mr Walsh refused to commit to Ms Patterson's request and said he would hand down his decision when the matter returned to court next month.

Ms Patterson was remanded in custody to re-appear in court on May 7.

The 48-year-old has been behind bars at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne's western industrial suburbs since her arrest last November.

She is among 600 maximum-security female inmates in Victoria's toughest women's jail which is notoriously violent, freezing in winter and boiling hot in summer. 

Located between an asphalt quarry and an electrical substation, Dame Phyllis Frost is one of three adjacent jails housing thousands of inmates, two of them state-run.

Patterson can receive visits from friends or her children, but not on Christmas Day when the state's public prisons are closed to visitors. 

She will have contact with prison chaplains behind bars at this time, and reportedly since her incarceration has been reading the Bible, which is readily available inside.

Ms Patterson's former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, died from suspected mushroom poisoning after eating a beef wellington dish cooked by Patterson at her Leongatha home on July 29.

She is further charged with five counts of attempted murder of her estranged husband Simon Patterson. 

Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one to survive the deadly lunch.