Cr McDonnell asked that council staff provide a report on the capital and ongoing financials relating to the $25m sporting precinct, which was the subject of a grant applications for a further $10m of federal government funding made earlier this year.

The motion was later broadened to cover all three major projects on councils books including the Southern Feeder Road and the $20m proposed Planetarium and Conservatorium, which was also the subject of a $5million grant application to the NSW government.

Along with capital expenditure to date, Cr McDonell asked for information regarding the ongoing costs of running and maintaining the sports precinct when operational and the likely source of the funding to meet these costs.

"We all know that the rising costs, the shortage of building materials and rising labour costs are having a massive impact on the building industry, not just locally, nationally but internationally," Cr McDonell said.

"We have a limited pool of funds and it's really important that the community gets these facilities to the best possible standard for the best possible price. And that we can service it on an ongoing basis in the long term."

Operational costs for the completed stadium are yet to be determined with council staff explaining that will depend on the model adopted. They also expected costs to be offset in part by revenue, a point Cr Tammy Greenhalgh backed up.

"We can't lose site of the big picture of what this stadium is going to bring to our town," she said. "The economic development and the people that are going to be coming and spending money in our community."

Cr Greenhalgh's point is illustrated by this weekend's NSW Under 14 rugby tournament which is estimated to be worth $135,000 to Orange accommodation venues and $368,000 to eateries during its three day duration.

Cr Frances Kinghorne said a ballpark figure for operational costs would be helpful.

"You hear stories, and I've got no idea how true they are, whether it's going to be a million dollars a year or two million dollars a year which is between 20 and 40 thousand dollars a week which seems absolutely incredible to me," Cr Kinghorne said.

Differentiating between capital expenditure and operational expenditure would be part of the report.

"This project has been a interesting one because we got given the $25m out of left field," Cr Jeff Whitton said referring the the Berejiklian Government's promise during the 2019 state election.

"I asked the staff today, 'where did that figure come from'. How did the particular premier of the day come up with that $25 million?"

Cr David Mallard was particularly interested in the capital expenditure report, giving the the project was now valued at $35m, pending grant approval mid year.

Orange City Council acknowledged almost $13 million worth of development approved under delegated authority for the April period during last night's meeting.

Included was an upgrade to the former car yard at 344-248 Summer Street which will now house a branch of John Davis Motors after almost $1m is spent rebranding the site.

Also included is a $1.1 million automated container cycling facility for Wangarang and a $500,000 Pellegrinis Italian Restaurant for the Summer Centre revamp.

Just over $4.5 million of the total was in residential scale development approved between March 23 and May 24.

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