Our series on the changing face of Orange in the past decade was well received last week, so we have updated our gallery with new scenes illustrating the changes to housing, roads and the shops of Summer Street.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There’s the new hospital, extensive housing developments, schools and shops.
When you stop and think about it Orange has undergone major change in the past decade.
Back in 2007 the Robin Hood Hotel was on the edge of town, the Northern Distributor Road was part built and the housing estates of north and west Orange were just twinkles in the developers’ eyes.
The old Orange base hospital was still in full swing, the new police station was not built and many developments on the edge of town were still paddocks.
To help you see just how significant the changes have been the Central Western Daily, through the use of Google maps and file photos, has compiled a then-and-now contrast of what has happened.
Cr John Davis has been mayor of Orange throughout this time.
This week he said the changes in some areas had been significant.
Cr Davis listed the construction of a pipeline to provide water from the Macquarie River to Orange as the most important event in the past decade.
“It’s the best project, though its out of mind, out of sight,” he said.
“It’s made Orange 50 years safe for water.”
He said the pipeline was built during the drought crisis that hit Orange in 2008-2009 when the city that everyone thought would always have plenty of water due to our high altitude nearly went dry.
“It was down to 22 and a half per cent of the water supply.”
Cr Davis said council was close to having to limit water supply to only crucial needs when government money was provided to build the pipeline.
“Normally you would never get a pipeline to the Macquarie River, it would never happen.”
He said the development of the Orange Health Service precinct had been a major boon for Orange providing not only work for many people but attracting a lot of medical specialists to the city.
“It’s the biggest regional hospital,” he said.
Cr Davis said the construction of the Orange Aquatic Centre had given residents a heated swimming pool complex they had been demanding for years.