With the steady expansion of north and west Orange in recent months, more streets and houses have appeared than online map providers can keep up with, says Orange mayor John Davis.

“They don’t cover new areas for six to 12 months, most of those companies,” he said.

“[Development is] never-ending, which is a great challenge to have. Orange has probably got at least another six or seven estates that’ll come on board in the next six to 12 months and it’s going to be the same.”

Cr Davis anticipated a similar problem once  development began on Orange’s new southern suburb.

The council’s street map will be updated monthly, allowing for more reliable navigation.

Taxi Cabs of Orange chairman Darryl Curran said finding new properties had been a challenge for the past 18 months.

“All our cars have GPS units in them and when you’re the first person to call from a street that’s never been called from before, the operator does their best to find out, but sometimes the operator’s not in the same town so it’s pretty hard for them to get directions,” he said.

“If the cars don’t know where it is, it’s a case of call on the mobile and get directions from the passenger to find out where they are.

“Passengers in Orange get really irate if you don’t know where you’re going. You get tarred with the same brush as Sydney cabbies.”

Mr Curran said passengers who called a cab from new areas struggled to get one in five minutes, but the council’s map would improve service.

Cr Davis said the council regularly updated its map of roads, water mains and other infrastructure, but decided to make the map accessible to the public, especially for emergency services, taxi companies and delivery drivers.

The up-to-date Orange street map can be found at orange.nsw.gov.au/streetmap.

danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au