Orange mayor Reg Kidd brought the matter up as a late item at Tuesday night's final council meeting of the term and while it was acknowledged unanimously, it will be the incoming council that debates the issue.

If carried, the question will then go back to the community via a referendum which, for cost reasons is usually conducted at the following election.

That will be in September 2024. If the 'yes' vote gets up, it will be implemented by the following council in 2027.

Judging by the support of outgoing councillors at Tuesday's meeting, Cr Kidd's motion will remain in the public arena.

In tabling the issue, Cr Kidd said the last time numbers were reduced was 2008 when council went 14 from 12. He said larger centres had nine councillors and it provided an uneven number when it came to the casting of votes.

Although supporting the move, Cr Stephen Nugent said he had concerns about the issue coming up while council was in caretaker period.

"Just because other councils have nine councillors, I don't think Orange needs to have nine," he said. He added one of the criticism of the current council was that it lacked diversity and nine councillors would further limit diversity.

Speaking after Tuesday's meeting, Cr Kidd disputed reducing the number of councillors would inhibit diversity.

He said the community chose its council from the candidates who stood.

"In a democracy everyone has an opportunity to run, male or female ... everyone has the right to vote for who they want," he said.

"51 per cent of the population is female. That means that the majority of females didn't vote for a female," he said.

Cr Kevin Duffy supported the acknowledgement, saying it was a good idea to put the debate into the public arena.

"It's the electorate making the decision," he said.

Financially, reducing the numbers would save the ratepayers around $75,000 a year in allowances alone.

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