June 3: Police charged a 19-year old man that was allegedly the getaway driver for an armed robbery that took place at Wentworth Golf Club. His arrest followed that of four others involved in the incident. 

June 5: A third of Orange's outdoor eateries said they were keen to see smoking bans introduced before the NSW government's 2015 deadline. When the outdoor dining smoking bans are introduced in 2015 they will add to the existing restrictions imposed earlier this year prohibiting smoking within 10 metres of children's play equipment in an outdoor public space, open areas of swimming pool complexes, spectator areas of sports grounds or other recreational areas and at public transport stops and stations.

June 6: Nicole Stevens had a shock when wrecking yard staff towed her car away, despite it being a different colour, having a different registration number and being parked in a different street to the car they were supposed to collect. By the time Mrs Stevens tracked her car down, its wheels and battery had already been removed. 

June 7: Key supporters of the Orange Regional Museum were excited by a surprise announcement of $4 million funding from the federal government. This funding was to top up the council's $2 million contribution, but the project still needed $1 million in community and corporate sponsorship before it could go ahead. 

June 10: Orange City Council's budget surplus of more than $270,000 dwindled to just $11,000 to pay for six unexpected requests from councillors. Although previously council staff had made it clear they intended to hold onto the entire surplus to keep the general fund of the council's $170 million draft budget in the black, mayor John Davis defended the decision to fund a lengthy councillor wish list from the extra money. 

June 12: Manager of central Orange Woolworths Derryn Linke voiced his concern over a proposal to remove the Anson Street pedestrian crossing outside the supermarket. Mr Linke said children's safety shouldn't be sacrificed in the name of traffic flow, and admitted that while traffic flow can be slow, small driver delays are preferable to someone getting hurt. 

June 14: For the second time in two weeks a young boy had become the victim of an attempted abduction in Orange, however police have stopped short of linking the two incidents. An eight-year-old-boy was allegedly approached while walking to a store not far from his mother by a man driving a car. The man allegedly called out to the boy and threatened him, the boy ran back to the shop and told his mother while the driver continued down Summer Street. 

June 15: An attempt by McDonald's to take Orange City Council to court to fight council's move to defer a decision on the north Orange restaurant was slammed as bullying and blackmail. The fast food giant lodged an application before the Land and Environment Court because it had been waiting for a decision from council for more than 40 days which is deemed a refusal. 

June 17: Cabonne Shire Council has played down a $42 million infrastructure backlog which almost four times as high as Forbes. Forbes has 1745 kilometres of roads compared with Cabonne which has 1832 kilometres. 

June 18: Medical teams from some of the state's top teaching hospitals including Westmead, St. Vincent's, and Royal North Shore were at Orange Health Service studying the Structured Interdisciplinary Bed Rounds model of care and learning how to implement it at their own hospitals. In less than 12 months, Orange Health Service had established itself as a leader in the health industry by using the patient-focused model of care, which was promoted to other hospitals across the state in collaboration with the Clinical Excellence Commission. 

June 20: Orange police had a breakthrough in the case involving to men who shot at a Springside farmer. After canvassing businesses in town, looking at hours of CCTV footage and using a description given to them by the farmer, police believed they may have found images of one of the men involved. The incident occurred when the farmer gave chase to two men who were shooting illegally on his property. One of the men pointed a gun at him and told him to drop his phone. He then smashed the phone and shot at the farmer's feet. 

June 22: Proposed state government electoral boundary changes were being defended by regional mayors as having the communies' best interest at heart. Details of the electoral redistribution were revealed on the NSW government website, giving stakeholders 30 days to consider the proposal and decide whether to make a submission. 

June 24: Another festival in Orange was deemed not sustainable by Orange councillors, as the idea of a street festival celebrating cultural diversity was broached by the Community Relations Commission. The commission offered to pay Orange City Council $20,000 for three years to host a multicultural festival in Summer Street on the condition council paid for the festival the following two years. 

June 25: When the new green bin collection started, residents were reminded to use them only for food scraps and lawn clippings. Ratepayers began paying an $80 fee for the green bin in July 2012 with the money going to construction of the Hub waste facility on Euchareena Road, and a compost buy back system. 

June 29: The amount of money Orange City Council gives to community events and organisations needed to be "brought back to reality", according to Mayor John Davis. Cr Davis said that initially, council gave money to events and organisations to get them up and running, but then organisations thought that they were entitled to the same amount of money every year.

THE TEN MOST READ STORIES ON THE CENTRAL WESTERN DAILY WEBSITE IN JUNE, 2013:

1. Woman killed in single vehicle crash

2. Red, white and a big blue

3. VIDEO: Farm shooting breakthrough

4. Police get their man: charges over hunting shooting

5. Miners shown the door at Cadia

6. Police catch the brains, the brawn and the driver

7. Thieves cheat good samaritan

8. Teacher's rap on the knuckles

9. Winning lotto ticket purchased in north Orange

10. Trash talk: it's time to sort your garbage

THROUGH MY EYES: MACCAS ATTACK

By CLARE COLLEY

RARELY does a development application before Orange City Council attract much attention, but the McDonald's proposed for Farrell Road was one development everyone in Orange appeared to have an opinion about.

The troubled Farrell Road/Telopea Way intersection and the Northern Distributor Road traffic lights just down the road have long been a sore point for north Orange residents and the council.

As soon as rumours of McDonald's wanting to build on the triangular block at Farrell Road begin to surface a group of residents began a sustained campaign opposing the fast-food outlet on the grounds of the traffic impacts.

New McDonald's restaurants always appear to attract controversy no matter where they are.

Even for Orange it's not the first time the fast-food giant has come under fire, with a restaurant proposed for the former Anita Motor Inn site also slammed by nearby residents.

But in the case of Farrell Road restaurant it was inevitable the development would eventually be okayed.

When the council put off a decision on the DA McDonald's immediately came out swinging, lodging an application with the Land and Environment Court in an attempt to push the approval through.

The legal challenge was slammed as blackmail and bullying by McDonald's opponents, but the criticism did little to slow down the eventual approval.

The planning system, for better for worse, favours developments that follow the rules, and at the end of the day the McDonald's development did.

Councillors may regret signing off on the rezoning of the Telopea Way many years ago to allow for a fast-food outlet, but the fact remains it was legal.

While the McDonald's debate was largely dominated by the opponents, towards the end its supporters became more vocal beginning an online campaign to have the fast-food outlet okayed.

Eventually they got their wish, when the Land and Environment Court approved the development.