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The project, which has been on the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club’s drawing board for three years, is now officially underway, with fences and construction vehicles already at the site, and the turning of the sod ceremony this Friday.

Geoff Payne, who has been the property consultant for the project, said the benefits of the new call centre weren’t limited to the 233 jobs it would create.

“It’s the most significant change in the Batemans Bay economy since the building of the Batemans Bay Bridge,” Mr Payne said.

“This is a trigger development, which means there are a lot of other developments in the wing waiting for this one to start.”

Projects expected to be “triggered” by the call centre include redevelopment of the Batemans Bay Marina, construction of a Big W on land in Orient Street, which Woolworth’s owns, and a Grand Mecure resort in Batehaven.

Plans for the call centre project started in 2007, and it is expected to be completed by the end of next year, weather permitting.

Mr Payne said the call centre would improve the economy during the off-peak season from April to August.

“Businesses in Batemans Bay between April and August don’t really survive that well,” he said. “This will give us a local economy that will survive, and the flow-on effect is pretty major.”

He said the 233 new jobs, about 60 of which will be incumbent, would mean more houses, or more affordability to upgrade homes.

The call centre will put Batemans Bay on the national map, according to Mr Payne.

“With ANU’s new training facility, and the University of Wollongong, you start to look at the nationalised presence we now have,” he said.

The Soldiers Club has been reported as one of Bateman Bay’s largest employers, and the club’s chief executive officer Gary White said the call centre was another opportunity to create 233 jobs for their business.

But the Soldiers Club won’t be the only beneficiary; especially once more developments are built.

“As this area gets developed, then there’ll be the next part to be developed in town. It’s for the whole community,” he said.

The site is situated on part of the Soldiers Club car park and, while Mr White has received complaints about the reduction in parking, he reminds customers that “it’s going to create jobs for the town”.

“There’s going to be between 160 to 170 new jobs for the youth of the town,” Mr White said.