Yesterday we revealed one tower was removed over safety fears because of corrosion in its base and the remaining five also need to be replaced or modified.

The lights, erected in the late 1970s, used to be the region’s best. Many fathers would remember playing under lights in a mid-week night series, one of the highlights each year.

But now Reid Oval tenant clubs Warrnambool and East Warrnambool could be forced to seek alternative venues for training if the remaining towers have to be removed before the end of the season.

How has it got to this?

For years, user groups, sporting bodies and some councillors have called for upgrades to Reid Oval facilities. 

It took almost four years for a netball changeroom facility and an electronic scoreboard to be constructed as part of what Warrnambool City Council says is the first step in a staged redevelopment.

But the second stage, involving a long-overdue renewal of the playing surface and new spectator facilities, has no funding or a timeline.

The council finds itself in an unenviable position. It needs to do something now but today’s regime has every reason to look back at previous administrations which should have ensured regular maintenance and improvements were done.

Instead, the council really needs to bite the bullet. 

Forget a staged re-development. Sit down and draw up plans to deliver the south-west’s capital city the venue the region deserves. 

There is little point spending an estimated $250,000 on the light towers now if new spectator facilities, changerooms and lighting are going to be built.

It’s a perfect time to look at relocating or even reducing the number of towers to get better lighting equipment. 

It also gives the council a more pressing need for assistance. Simply, the council has to go cap-in-hand to state and federal governments, philanthropic trusts, the AFL and Cricket Victoria and beg. 

If it’s worth doing, the job needs to be done properly.