Federal member for Calare Andrew Gee said in a statement the council's main lobbying efforts were focused on the facility, but did not submit an application.

The council instead submitted applications for stage four of the southern feeder road, the CBD revitalisation project and the Mount Canobolas mountain bike trail centre. 

"[The conservatorium] was the only one they went to Canberra to lobby for, where the Minister for Communications and Arts, Senator Mitch Fifield, advised the council delegation that an application should be lodged under the current round of the Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) and that he would support it," Mr Gee said. 

"I was then told an application would be submitted but unfortunately it never happened - when I phoned to ask the council why, I was told it wasn't one of their top three priorities."

VIDEO: See the concept design for the conservatorium ...

The council made the decision last year to delay the project by 12 months, to start next financial year pending grant funding. 

Mayor Reg Kidd said the council had a good track record with applying for grants and engaged with expert advisers as the submissions were prepared.

"The conservatorium project is an important project for Orange which will happen one day, but if it comes to a choice today, the reality is that other projects, such as the CBD upgrade, the Life Sciences precinct [at Bloomfield] and better transport connections will have a much bigger impact when it comes to building Orange's economic capacity and creating new jobs," he said.

Cr Kidd said the conservatorium delegation was a way of keeping "many irons in the fire". 

"Sometimes governments ask the council to say which projects are the most important, other times they like to choose according to their own priorities," he said. 

He said the council looked forward to sitting down with the relevant department for feedback on the submissions and Mr Gee was always welcome to discuss issues.