Number of empty shops in Orange CBD is 'not bleak' says report

And it has claimed Orange residents are spending far less money on retail shopping in Dubbo, Bathurst and Kelso than was being suggested.

The report found 8.8 per cent of Summer Street shops, about 10, were vacant and unleased when an Orange City Council survey was taken this year.

The staff report to Orange City Council said an earlier report to council which said the CBD shop vacancy rate was about 15 per "included services and commercial space and not just Summer Street."

It said the Summer Street retail vacancy rate in 1999 was 13.6 per cent.

The report compared Orange to several streets in Melbourne where vacancy rates of more than 20 per cent were reported, before any COVID-19 factors.

"Based on a four-year trend of high street retail sectors in Melbourne's premier shopping districts the current vacancy rate of 8.8 per cent does not appear to be that bleak," it said.

"The level of retail vacancies in Summer Street are not excessive compared to elsewhere."

The report also said council could not effectively help businesses by offering rental assistance to businesses facing high rents in the CBD.

And it said council could not control rental prices.

"The rental market in the CBD is a free market. Council is a participant in that market, not a referee," it said.

Under the Future City program there is a proposal for council to provide retail space with lower rents on council-owned property to businesses unable to pay market rates.

That includes in small, converted shipping container pop-up shops.

The council report said Spendmapp research figures showed Orange residents spent $5.28 million a year in Dubbo and about $18 million a year in Bathurst and Kelso.

"Council has also faced significant criticism from residents claiming the shopping in Orange is sub-standard and that 'everyone' from Orange goes to Bathurst or Dubbo to shop," it said.

However, it said the figures showed the annual amount spent in Dubbo was the same as one day's expenditure in Orange.

It said Orange residents' spending in Bathurst was "not excessive."

And it said Bathurst residents spent twice as much in Orange as the other way around.

"Residents are not 'doing all their shopping' in Dubbo and Bathurst, and in fact it is the other way around," it said.

The report said the biggest expenditure by Orange people in Bathurst was on dining and entertainment.