Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s leisure booking system crash causes summer scheme chaos
A computer software crash in Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council has left “thousands” of people facing a potential summer scheme chaos.
A third party booking system glitch has caused major issues with payments for leisure facilities throughout the district leaving “parents disappointed” ahead of the school break.
The online system also supports Dundonald Ice Bowl, as well as Lough Moss Leisure Centre and is also used by “eight other councils” in Northern Ireland.
Chairperson of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s Communities and Wellbeing Committee, Councillor Jonathan Craig flagged the issue in Council chambers to seek clarity on the matter.
Mr Craig said: ”There has been an annoying issue with the Lisburn Leisureplex concerning its booking system.
“I would like members to be informed with a report tonight on what has happened and what measures are being taken by the council to address the issues.
“It shows how reliant we are in technology when it fails.”
Castlereagh East Alderman, Sharon Skillen added: "There have been a lot of disappointed parents, and I include myself in that, getting into bother with booking at Lough Moss and the Leisureplex. It just shows the high demand for bookings.
“I was at the Ice Bowl and even the staff were frustrated. I am glad we are now looking into this.”
A council officer responded: ”The problem has been across all sports facilities in the district and took place yesterday (June 2).
“This is the same online booking system used by eight other councils.
"This has affected potentially thousands of transactions.
"We have used this company for five years online without major incident.”
He went on to say: “Some of the issues people have had include no confirmation of payment or no payment taken or even refunds without confirmation.
“This has affected bookings for summer schemes and we are getting extra support from council admin to help contact individuals affected with a huge volume of phone calls.
“We have escalated the concerns to the software company and apologise for any inconvenience.
"We will update in due course with bookings for summer schemes temporarily paused,” he concluded.