Owner John Allen hopes to revitalise the historic building by turning it into four residential units.

His plans also call for two two-storey townhouses to be built where the bottle shop now stands, plus five courtyard homes at the rear of the expansive property.

“It won’t change the building,” he said yesterday.

“It is 60-odd years old, a nice sound building.”

The development plan application awaits council approval.

“Before I go any further, I want to know if council’s behind it,” Mr Allen said.

“If everyone is happy with the project, let’s get the architects and the surveyors involved.

“But if this project doesn’t happen, what do you do with the building? It would be a bloody shame to knock it down.”

The hotel closed its doors for good on Saturday night after 131 years of operation, initially as the Railway Hotel, then as the Newcastle from 1940.

One of the reasons it was unable to remain open was the owner’s insistence on keeping it pokies-free. “Without poker machines you can’t survive,” he said. “ He added that increases in the price of alcohol and cigarettes and the introduction of breath-testing meant that “drinking crowds are gone from pubs. The government have killed them off”.

Rather than being put out by the Newcastle’s closure, many of the pub’s old patrons have told its owner they thought the development was a great idea.

The Newcastle’s staff will be retained at the International Hotel which Mr Allen also owns.

“It will be a win for the area if it happens,” he said.