Cr Kidd said he was now keen to see work start on the project to turn a former golf course into sports fields.

At an extraordinary meeting on Monday night Orange City Council backed the removal of 250 trees at Bloomfield for construction of a stadium and an athletics track.

He said the facilities would benefit future generations of Orange, a city with a growing population.

"I would hope that in the near future the work would start," he said.

"It's been a long and very vigorous and very transparent process."

Cr Kidd said council staff would now prepare documentation for state government department approval before any of the trees could be culled.

"There has already been preliminary surveying done," he said.

Cr Kidd said the stadium would have multiple uses.

"There is a whole lot of community uses outside of sport," he said. That included major rock and orchestral concerts, market days and even a new home for the New Year's Eve laser light show previously held at Wade Park.

Cr Kidd said Orange would have the facility to bid for events the size of the Elton John concert in Bathurst last year.

He acknowledged there had been opposition to the proposal but said the councillors considered the whole population.

Councillors heard from five speakers for, and five against, before making their decision.

"It was a good debate, it wasn't 6-5, there wasn't a casting vote, it was 10-1, that's quite substantial," he said.

"At the end of the day the councillors are elected to represent the 42-43,000 people in the community. You have to think about the future of Orange."

He said suggestions the facilities could be shared across different venues in Orange were inaccurate.

Cr Kidd said separate venues were not part of the state government's plans when it allocated $25 million for the project.

"The funding is for a sports precinct. We can't go and say we'll spend $1 million here and $3 million over there," he said.

Several councillors told Monday's meeting the sports precinct was effectively an extension of existing facilities at Jack Brabham Park.

Cr Kidd said the precinct would see upgraded facilities including change rooms and facilities for people with disabilities.

He said doctors and the medical fraternity had differing views but he said traffic congestion concerns could be alleviated with management plans.

Opponents argued the trees should be retained for a new parkland with the sports fields moved elsewhere.

Cr Stephen Nugent was the only councillor not to support the tree culling.

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