Armidale ex-Services Club CEO Scott Sullivan said positive liaison between council planning staff and the club played a large part in bringing the project to fruition.

“We’ve been working with Armidale council over the last two or three years to ensure this project,” Mr Sullivan said.

“It’ll mean not only the long-term viability of our club, but I think it’s a great asset to the Armidale retail community. We’ll be now able to attract a lot of business and conferencing to town and that should stimulate the economy of Armidale.

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“There will be jobs. There will be jobs for the construction crews and then the motel will bring long-term, permanent jobs for the club.”

Mr Sullivan said the club hoped to commence construction as soon as possible. The Motel will be built on the vacant land beside the club and Mr Sullivan said while he could not provide a time frame for the project it would begin soon.

“We want to start it as soon as possible. We haven’t set an exact date, but it won’t be too far away. A development of that size will take 12 to 18 months to build,” Mr Sullivan said.

Armidale Mayor Simon Murray said the creek-lands area was a very quiet area.

“We come here to go to the club or the movies, but this could actually become a bit of a centre and a good move for Armidale,” he said.

“There happens to be a main sewer line that goes directly underneath this that had to be re-routed, so, we’ve been working with them for some time on those sorts of issues.”

There were also stormwater drainage, flooding and increased traffic issues that needed to be resolved before the development application could be approved.

“This project is another example of council playing a supportive role for important initiatives, while ensuring these ventures tick all the boxes to protect public amenity and safety,” Cr Murray said.