Cabonne Shire Council candidate Dr Andrew Rawson touches on affordable housing in Orange and Mount Canobolas

An Adjunct Associate Professor with the School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences at Charles Sturt University in Orange, the Nashdale resident has slammed the proposed mountain bike project for Mount Canobolas.

He says Orange City Council is "imposing itself on the people of Cabonne" by pushing to have the development in the state conservation area.

"What's drawn me out initially is the idiocy with Orange council pushing to have a mountain bike park on the mountain," he said, the December 4 local government elections looming as his first tilt at council.

"I've been on the periphery on decision making for land management for many years ... I feel there needs to be a fresh view on all councils.

"There's lots of challenges for the region. We'll face a number of significant land use conflicts in the next few decades."

He says there's 10,000 hectares of state forest, some of which is on Mount Canobolas, that would be better used to develop mountain bike trials in the area.

"I'm not standing because I'm concerned about Cabonne council ... I've met them all and they're all decent people. But we need to step up," he said.

Dr Rawsons has lived in the region for two decades and said maintaining the shire's "immense natural and agricultural resources, for future generations" should be a focus for council moving forward.

He said a large portion of the Cabonne community lives in the shire but commutes into Orange for work, and ensuring there was better public transport into Orange and between Cabonne villages is important.

Dr Rawson also believes ensuring there's affordable housing in Cabonne will help keep villages in the region vibrant as more people look to move to the region.

"We have people moving into the area; tree-changes, climate refugees, people coming off the land and coming close to Orange for medical services," he said.

"Orange has a problem with affordable hosing, but if people are working in Orange let's have them live in Cudal, Cargo, Molong, Canowindra and commute to where they work. We have to make our villages attractive.

"We can't ignore the fact Orange exists. It's the elephant in the room. The LGA completely surrounds Orange and it's the economic centre for the region. How we interact with the elephant in the room is up to us."

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