On Tuesday night, councillors will vote on whether to request a change to development application conditions at the Tamworth international flight training accommodation facility, that would allow employees from the construction and food processing industries to stay there.

In the absence of pilots, the facility is currently being used to house workers from overseas or interstate, many of whom work at local abattoirs.

However, this is only being allowed under a clause that refers to 'temporary use of land', which means it can only be used for its current purpose for 182 days in a 12 month period.

TRC director of growth and prosperity Jacqueline O'Neill said council initially expected short-term accommodation would be enough, but has reassessed that stance due to the current housing shortage.

"We only thought it would be a short period of time, for about three months, but we're looking to extend that because we can see that COVID is continuing," she said.

"And I was just talking to a member from the real estate industry recently and they said the current vacancy rate in Tamworth is less than 1 per cent.

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"There's no quick fix for this, so council wants to demonstrate the fact it's there to support the economy to make sure those workers can continue work out at the abattoirs."

Currently the zoning for that region only allows the long-term accommodation of transport staff related to the aviation industry.

Ms O'Neill said once the likes of pilots are able to return after the COVID situation dies down, then they will be returned to that facility and another solution will have to be looked at for the other workers.

In order to change the conditions of the current development application, TRC would have to request an amendment to the Tamworth Regional Local Environmental Plan 2010, or request a gateway determination from the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

Councillors may also vote to request a minimal public exhibition period should changes be approved by the department.

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