Concerns have been raised about the viability of the North Orange Shopping Centre following a bakery's departure.
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On Thursday it was revealed Bakers Delight planned to open in the centre after Vivien's Hot Bread closed down just a few days prior.
Erin Marsden lives out at Lewis Ponds and was one of many disappointed by the news.
"I think it was everyone's favourite bakery," she said.
"We were in North Orange shops last Saturday and the bakery was open and my husband and I commented that the finger buns looked extra pink that day. Then Monday I went in to do groceries and it was gone, shut."
While the bakery was often a tad pricier than the nearby Woolworths, Mrs Marsden said the quality of the food was second to none.
"The products they had there were fresh," she added.
"It was very disappointing that they had closed up shop."
But more than just the bakery itself, Mrs Marsden worried about the overall impact this would have on shoppers like herself.
Once a month she will travel the 20 minutes to North Orange for a "big shop" while doing a "smaller shop" during the weeks in-between when necesarry.
With the loss of the bakery and prior to that, the newsagents, Mrs Marsden is concerned she'll no longer be able to get all of her shopping done in one trip.
"It was convenient, everything was there," she added.
"You could go to the newsagents to put your Lotto on, you could get your naughty apple slice from the bakery.
"Now, you can't do that. North Orange is not a one stop shop now."
Aerial footage released in August 2023 showed the eye-opening rate at which housing has been built in North Orange over the past decade.
These two things, coupled with the ever-growing population of Orange and the desire by some to see expansion happen sooner rather than later has others wondering if there will be enough services to cope.
"There's houses going up everywhere out there and there's just not the facilities," Mrs Marsden added.
"I don't know if it's necessary to make the shopping centre any bigger, because there's empty stores there as it is."
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