Not everyone wants to see greyhound racing returned to Orange.
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Opponents believe a new multi-million dollar track would perpetuate animal cruelty, promote gambling and fail to bring in the revenue claimed by lobby groups.
The decision to conduct all council decision making in "secret" has also been criticised.
"It's a dying industry, literally," former councillor Neil Jones told the Central Western Daily this week.
"This talk of a 'Centre of Excellence' is nonsense. It'll be a 'Centre of Excellence' for gambling and animal suffering. There's no such thing as a safe greyhound track.
"That's the reality of the industry. It's awful, and we shouldn't be part of it."
As exclusively reported by the CWD last week, a proposed contract to allow construction at the now-abandoned Highlands Paceway trotters track will come before Orange City Council in a closed meeting tonight.
Mr Jones believes the vote should be public and urged all representatives to oppose construction.
"The greyhound industry is a puppet of the gaming industry. It's all about gambling and gambling taxation, and it's being propped up by the government," he said.
"Patronage historically is very low. It's nonsense the claims of bringing $20 million into the Orange economy. This is not Bathurst with hundreds of thousands of people coming to watch car racing.
"These beloved pets - once the noble beasts of the Pharaohs - are now at risk of death and dying at every race ... they're there for human entertainment and greed. If they're too slow or injured, they are discarded."
Mr Jones and his wife Libby are owners of a rescue greyhound, Rosie. She broke her leg as a puppy and was put up for adoption.
"There are responsible breeders and trainers who do have concern for the welfare of their animals ... but the industry has serious problems," he said.
"The fact is the rest of the world is closing down the industry. Here we are in Orange and we want to be home to this appalling industry."
According to industry regulator the Greyhound Welfare Integrity Commission, Sixty-five greyhounds have died on NSW tracks in 2022 and 2023. That a 26 per cent increase over the 12-months prior.
Proponents of the Orange greyhound track say it would be the "safest in the world" and feature a vet clinic on site. Peak industry lobby group GBOTA estimates about $20 million would be injected into the town's economy each year.
Animal welfare group the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG) disputes this and hit out at council "secrecy".
"Greyhound racing is plagued by many problems, ranging from animal abuse to gambling addiction," NSW State Director Kylie Field said.
"It's outrageous that the public can't see the track proposal for Orange and has been excluded from council discussions."
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