It comes after Bathurst Regional Council debated the worth of staying in the campaign last year before making a new multi-year commitment.

Orange councillors voted on Tuesday night to pull out of the group and instead set aside the $65,000 the council would have spent next financial year.

Councillor Russell Turner said the name gave the impression the group had an environmental focus and he was concerned about the lack of state funding and the drop in the number of household groups settling in Orange from 81 in 2014-15 to 19 so far in 2015-16.

“We’ve seen a downward trend and it appears to have bottomed out,” he said.

“I don’t believe the state government is fair dinkum about getting a reasonable amount of people into regional areas – they’ve got to put in millions of dollars and that’s still a drop in the ocean compared to what they’re spending in Sydney.”

Councillor Reg Kidd pointed out staff time took the $360,000 cash injection since 2010 closer to $500,000 and believed the Taste Orange events in Martin Place in Sydney already did the job of Evocities.

“I’ve been down there several times promoting job opportunities and people ask what’s good about moving here,” he said.

In recommending Bathurst councillors commit again to the Evocities campaign last year, Bathurst Regional Council’s environmental, planning and building services director David Shaw said the investment was worth it.

“It is unlikely that any subsequent marketing efforts to attract relocators would achieve the same return on investment,” his report to councillors said.