Cr Etheridge wants to see the neighbourhood shopping strip clusters, such as on Boundary Road, Tamworth and Myall streets updated, to stop them looking ‘haggard’.

“I think the shopping precincts are looking old and haggard – I don’t like that word but they are – and it’s time we stepped up and did something to help them,” she said.

“That’s got nothing to do with the business owners, I just want the place looking a bit more cosmopolitan.”

The beautification should include more trees, not just barrels with plants in them, Cr Etheridge said.

However, her one stipulation was that the number of car parking spaces should not be reduced. In Myall Street Cr Etheridge said she she wanted to see the parallel parking changed to nose-in to allow more space for cars.

The councillor has requested council prepare a report on the possibility of a beautification.

Mayor Ben Shields said if the council wanted the shopping strips to thrive, employ locals and generate money for the economy, the beautification was an issue that needed to be considered.

“It is unacceptable that we have infrastructure and footpaths around those centre that pretty much look like something that was put in place in the 1970s and has been worn out since the 1990s,” he said.

A significant amount of money had been spent on the Ignite the CBD initiative, Cr Shields said, and it was only fair council thought about doing the same for the smaller neighbourhood shops.

The Ignite the CBD plan was developed by council in 2015. It generated 50 Bright Ideas from the public to bring life back into Dubbo’s centre.

Councillor Greg Mohr said he believed every small business in every nook and cranny deserved recognition.

“It’s our duty to look into this and look into it thoroughly to give these small businesses a rise up so they can be noticed just like the big people in town,” he said.

The report is expected to be presented to the February council meeting.