Service general manager Richard Jones said the change was part of a new 10-year contract signed in December.

As the Newcastle Herald reported at the time, the chopper service was moving its Hunter machine to Belmont, while its administration and engineering facilities would remain at Broadmeadow.

Mr Jones said on Thursday night that the proposed Belmont operation still needed the approval of Lake Macquarie City Council, but he was not expecting any problems.

Mr Jones said the new contract  started in 2017.

He said as things stood the service had a single operating crew and two helicopters at Newcastle, with the same set-up at Tamworth.

As part of the contract, it was taking over a  Westpac operation at Lismore, which also had a single crew and two choppers.

Under the merger, each base would have only one chopper, with a single back-up between the three services.

‘‘But they are brand new machines with much bigger range and with much fewer maintenance requirements,’’ Mr Jones said.