Warrnambool mayor Tony Herbert said on Thursday council had resolved in October last year that it needed a letter to initiate the process.

"There's no hold up, no blocking by the council, but we need that letter for the process to start," he said.

Victims of sexual abuse on Wednesday mounted a renewed push to rename a Warrnambool street which honours a senior priest who knew about abuse but failed to act.

The call was first made mid last year.

Monsignor Leo Fiscalini was told by a victim she was being sexually abused in 1972 and he accused her of "telling lies" and left her in the care of her abuser.

The county court has since jailed her abuser.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuses acknowledged Fiscalini and former Bishop of Ballarat Ronald Mulkearns knew of complaints relating to pedophile Gerald Ridsdale in the 1970s but permitted him to continue working in the region.

A victim of clergy abuse was on Thursday morning told about the letter requirement.

He said he would write a letter which would be in the hands of a councillor on Friday morning.

"If that had been made clear that a letter was required then it would have happened long before now," he said.

Cr Herbert said anyone could initiate a street name review and the Warrnambool Catholic church parish had no problem with that consideration.

He said if the letter was received the council would go through the review process.

"If the letter is received it's a lengthy process. The people in the street would be consulted, there's a fair bit involved," he said.

On Wednesday a sex assault victim, who revealed her abuse to Monsignor Fiscalini in a confessional, said she has previously received support from Cr Herbert.

"I received a very empathetic email," she said.

"On July 12 last year I first wrote to Tony Herbert seeking support for the name of the street being changed after the story in The Standard.

"He said he was supportive of the removal of names from all public recognition of both those responsible for committing crimes and those who concealed crimes.

"He assured me he was fully supportive of Monsignor Fiscalini's name being removed."

The victim said that on August 18, after the tragic death of her sister, Cr Herbert again emailed to voice his support.

"He wrote back to me and said: 'I'm sure the council will have no issue. It will be changed'," she quoted from that email.

A victim of clergy abuse victim said he also contacted Cr Herbert on Tuesday this week.

"I asked where the process was at and he said it really hasn't started, that nothing had been done," he said.

Cr Peter Hulin said he had been working towards getting the street name changed and would bring the issue up with the new council chief executive officer Peter Schneider at the first opportunity.

A council spokesman said it was expected that the issue would be discussed at a future council briefing.

READ more: Public backs name change 

Renewed push for street name change

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