Sporting clubs and associations who use Jubilee Park, Gissing Oval and Henwood Park can now send a mobile phone SMS to Wagga City Council to have the flood lights turned on.

Council believes it will be a more efficient system that will save energy and allow players to better control the lighting system.

Administrators first need to book to the use of the lights at the three grounds and when play or training is ready to start send a message with a unique code to automatically turn on the lights. They can also control when the lights are turned off by again sending a text message.

Mayor Kerry Pascoe says it will end the days when lights were left on despite nobody being at the ground.'

“It ends the energy waste that occurred when weather, for example, cancelled touch or soccer but the lights were left on,” Cr Pascoe said.

“The new system saves energy while also making life easier for the sporting bodies that use the city’s sporting facilities.

Cr Pascoe said there was also a fail safe that turned the lights off automatically at a specific time.

“Once the group has finished, they can again send a text message and the lights are turned off or at the end of the booking if they are not manually turned off first,” he said.

The system was introduced in November but will become important as sporting groups book their year-long use of sporting grounds and lighting.

Sending a message will also save sporting clubs and associations valuable dollars as they stop paying for the lighting as soon as the SMS is recieved by council.

Wagga Touch administrator David Baggio said it would be a huge benefit come winter.

“The new system should be helpful, especially in winter when it starts getting darker,” Mr Baggio said.

“We’ve still got to book to times we want to play and train but there is more control over the lights and it will save council turning them on if touch is cancelled because of the weather.”