Mr Walkom, who is also a Dubbo City Councillor, was responding to comments made by Orange City Council's Director Development Services Dave Waddell as Orange City Council sought advice on whether to allow an expansion of Woolworths at the north Orange shopping centre.

Mr Waddell told the Central West Daily Orange City Council did not want "an Orana Mall situation" to occur in Orange, where expansions at Orana Mall had taken business away from the Dubbo CBD and turned the latter into a "ghost town".

Last year some Dubbo councillors raised concerns about empty shops appearing in the centre of the city following news The Warehouse and Sam's Warehouse in the main street would close.

At the time, Cr Ben Shields identified an expanding Orana Mall in Dubbo's east and the opening of a new ALDI store as factors that would put pressure on the central business district (CBD).

"I'm not knocking Orana Mall or ALDI - I think they're going to grow Dubbo's pie," Cr Shields said.

"But I do not want us to be a victim of our own success."

Cr John Walkom said the commercial reality was shops would close and owners would find new tenants, although he agreed with councillors who thought it was important to "facilitate reinventing our CBD".

Mr Walkom said it was not an issue of Orana Mall versus the Dubbo CBD, rather, the labelling of the latter as a "ghost town".

"By definition that's 'a deserted or semi-deserted town, an abandoned village or city that contains substantial visible remains', and there's no substance or fact in his (Mr Waddell's) statement whatsoever," Mr Walkom said.

"When it comes to Dubbo's gross domestic product, retail is number two, and the Dubbo CBD is a vibrant economic hub for Dubbo and the region."

Mr Walkom said it was wrong to think of the Dubbo CBD in terms of shopping only.

"Orana Mall plays a strong role in the provision of good retail shopping in a regional city, and strategic planning through council in the 1970s has allowed that to happen," he said.

"The CBD provides a retail presence and also plays a service delivery presence in terms of hosting government departments, the legal profession, medical services and entertainment in the day and evening."

Mr Walkom said Dubbo "will always be evolving" and pointed to developments including the refurbishment of the Castlereagh and Commercial hotels, the Old Bank restaurant, planned refurbishments for Dubbo Square, Riverdale and the old Commonwealth Office Building and expansion of the Milestone Hotel as evidence Dubbo's CBD was "certainly not in crisis".

"Whatever the political agenda is, it can stay in Orange," Mr Walkom said.

"Don't be derogatory to Dubbo for your advantage. Orange is an Evocity partner, and he (Mr Waddell) has talked down a partner. You don't do that in the family even if you think it, you don't say it.

"He needs to engage his brain before he engages his mouth. It makes me so upset."

Mr Waddell was on annual leave but provided a statement yesterday afternoon to clarify his comments.

He said he had no intention of offending anyone and apologised if he had done so.

"I did say that there was a period when the Dubbo CBD was feeling the impact of another distinct shopping centre," he said.

"Not all of my comments made it to the (Central West Daily) printed article. I also mentioned that the Orana Mall had been highly successful.

"Long-term residents of Dubbo would remember that there was a period when the Orana Mall had an adverse effect on the Dubbo CBD.

"As the community of Orange considers the future directions of our retail precincts this is a legitimate planning issue and as a community we should keep these planning issues in the forefront."