YEAR IN REVIEW | December COVID-19 alert in Orange,

The close contact was present at Orange Health Service and all close contacts of that person were identified, and then self-isolated after under-going testing.

All returned a negative result.

At the time, anyone who attended Orange Central Square Shopping Centre on Saturday, December 19 was considered a casual contact and was instructed to monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately.

James Sheahan Catholic High School student Isabel Francis blitzed her Higher School Certificate exams, achieving an ATAR of 99.15 and was in Band 6 (90-100 percent score) in five subjects.

"A lot of the exams were harder than I thought they would be," she said.

"People were saying the HSC would be easier than the trials but I didn't find that at all."

Students were texted HSC results on December 19 and could log into a portal to check their ATAR scores.

When Ms Francis saw her result she said she "didn't believe it".

"My whole family was in the lounge room and I couldn't say anything, so I just showed them my phone."

Kinross Wolaroi School student Dominic Reilly received his HSC results at 6am but was yet to check his ATAR.

"I decided not to look at it; I'll wait to see uni offers then I'll look at it," he said.

Mr Reilly had hoped to build an electric motorbike for his major design and technology project, however the difficulty in sourcing components during COVID made it impossible.

At Kinross Wolaroi School 48 students achieved 78 Band 6 results. This equated to 37 percent of the year 12 cohort.

The top ATAR was achieved by Edward Taylor, who scored 99.6.

The farmer nearest a solar farm planned for Orange says he is "devastated" after a government planning panel approved the project this week.

And mayor Reg Kidd said he was considering protesting to the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, after the panel ruled against the decision of Orange City Council which opposed the development.

Their reaction comes as a community co-operative said they would soon start public meetings to seek funding from Central West residents wanting be involved in the solar park project.

Rob Green, who lives next to the Mitchell Highway site about six kilometres north-west of Orange, said his rural outlook would be destroyed as he would see the solar park from three of his farm boundaries.

"I'm absolutely devastated," he said.

"I think we've been delivered a terrible low blow."

Mr Green said that if the $8.9 million development had been valued below $5 million council would have determined it.

Energy Democracy Central West NSW Co-operative CEO Alan Major said residents could share in the benefits of a solar farm by buying into the co-operative which would provide a deal to cut their energy costs.

He said they would be selling 900 parcels of 5000 shares, costing about $5000 per parcel, for people to join the project.

Two North Orange shops were forced to close early after rain started falling through the roof on December 16.

Rain was coming in sideways as Orange was hit with a huge storm. The rain came down so hard in some parts that it forced businesses to shut up shop.

"It was coming through the lights and the roof," Sasi Sikares, manager of the Subway near the North Orange Shopping Centre said.

More than 500 trees from a former golf course will be removed to make way for Orange's $25 million sports precinct.

Plans for the Forest Road development are now on public exhibition at Orange City Council.

They show 55 native trees and nine remnant natives are among the 513 trees, out of 794 on the site, that will go.

However, most are pines planted during the 1980s for the Country Club golf course.

Orange mayor Reg Kidd said older trees near the hospital would not be affected by this development.

"There's been a lot of misunderstanding about the project so far, mostly about the location, and I hope people take the time to look at the project closely before they decide whether or not to support it," he said.