Nine plane trees and two white cedar trees in Anson Street, between Summer and Kite streets, would be removed under plans to create a pedestrian area.

They would be replaced by trees initially three to five metres high but councillor Glenn Taylor said the old trees must stay.

"If it's between the trees and the mall, then get rid of the mall," he said.

"These trees are worth fighting for. They are Orange."

He said he supported rejuvenating the CBD. "[But] not at this cost. They're beautiful, very, very old trees that have been a significant part of Orange." He said the trees would be older than most Orange residents.

Council is due to consider removing the trees at its next meeting on December 15.

"We shouldn't even be debating it. Get it off the agenda. The trees have to stay. Some old things are worth retaining and fighting for," Cr Taylor said.

Cr Kevin Duffy said he had been contacted by many people opposed to the trees being cut down.

"I've been hammered by phone, by message and people coming up and saying, 'Hey, you're not moving those trees," he said.

"I think there's a lot of councillors who are going to be against removing those trees, because it's part of our heritage."

Cr Duffy said council should put seats around the base of the trees to use them as part of the mall plan.

"It happens everywhere else and people sit around them," he said.

"If the trees have to go, there's no mall. We have to work around them.

"Most people in Orange would be horrified if they were to go."

A public forum on the trees is on at the council offices at 5.30pm on Tuesday, December 8. Due to COVID-19 people need to call the council to register to attend.

Council CEO David Waddell told council's Tuesday night meeting saving the trees would involve significant extra costs.

"The engineering cost of not removing those trees is significant," Mr Waddell said.

A council statement earlier this week said the trees should be removed because their roots had lifted sections of the footpath creating trip hazards and shop flooding issues.

It said tree roots had also grown into kerbside gutters interfering with storm water flow and causing damage to buildings.

It said council staff had considered options to save the trees including moving the gutter closer to the shop fronts or having the gutters drain to the centre of the road toward underground stormwater but neither option solved the problems the trees were causing to footpaths and infrastructure.

They have also looked at putting boardwalks around the trees but said it did not solve drainage issues, it reduced parking spaces and created uneven surfaces near shopfronts.