Cr Kidd used Tuesday's Orange City Council meeting to formally ask for cost estimates to identify and replace all dead trees, remove all dead wood on otherwise healthy trees and plant out street gardens, roundabouts and median strips where needed.

He said dieback presented a risk to driver and pedestrian safety and the number of street trees would only grow as Orange expanded. 

"The longer we don't do something, the more it's going to cost," he said.

"Many of the trees are badly stressed - the tree in front of the post office is probably 80 per cent dead, it's like having half your teeth missing in the front of your head.

"A number of the blisters have nothing in them but weeds - some roundabouts look fantastic, others not so flash."

He also asked for new signage at the gateways to Orange, with extra planting, and to write to Essential Energy again to ask contractors to shape trees evenly.

"If you look at the entrances to our town and compare them to Bathurst and Dubbo, they won't hold a light to them now like they used to," he said. 

"You would not prune a tree in your own yard like [Essential Energy does] and I know it has to be done, but I've looked at some on Bathurst Road and they're terribly displaced - they've got tonnes of wood on one side of the tree."

Councillor Glenn Taylor supported the motion, saying it had been an emotive issue.

"We've missed out on federal funding for the CBD and that's obviously going to put that project back and [with] the number of dead trees around, we need to address those," he said. 

Cr Taylor said as far as Essential Energy was concerned, the condition of the Lone Pine was the standout example.

"That's all we need to say," he said.

The council has already discussed expanding the park and gardens budget to improve maintenance and $250,000 will be set aside for councillor-driven projects.

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