Lisburn councillor raises concerns a parking app GPS could be putting motorists at a 'nightmare' risk of being fined

A Lisburn councillor has flagged a “bizarre” GPS issue with the council’s contracted off-street carparking app, potentially putting motorists at risk of fines.

The “bewildered” councillor highlighted his first hand experience with concerns it could affect others.

In April, eight local authorities in Northern Ireland signed up to both the carparking app provided by the ‘Easy Park Group’ and parking enforcement with Marston (Holdings) Ltd.

The chamber heard a “nightmare” issue was being generated by the automatic location finder on the ‘RingGo’ app identifying car owners present at the wrong carpark.

Councillor Jonathan Craig said: ”There is a bewildering issue with parking, which came to my attention because it happened to me.

“If you use the app and let it automatically select where you’re parked it doesn’t necessarily get it right as I have discovered.

“It actually selected another off-street parking area and I wasn’t aware of it. I actually came back to the car and there was a fine. Now, I knew how to appeal it and won it, but that is not the issue.

“It turns out as a council we seem to have different costs around every carpark we have in the town. Now, I find that a bit odd.

“I do find it bewildering that we do have significantly different charges with regards to carparks that in this case, were literally only a few hundreds yards apart.

“Hence, if you have the wrong location in, then individuals who enforce this have no option but to fine you.”

The Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council website informs people of its use of the RingGo App which provides a cashless way to pay for all off-street car parking in the district.

Lisburn City has seven pay and display off street carparks ranging in charges from 30p to 70p per hour with a current special discount tariff of £1 for three hours in selected carparks.

NSL enforcement officers from Marston can issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) to motorists with a standard amount at £90 reduced to £45 if paid within 14 days.

Mr Craig added: “I think there is a real issue and I would ask that the appropriate committee look at this, because we are creating a bit of a nightmare for the enforcement officers.

“It wasn’t the fact I was unwilling to pay, I was actually paying, that’s the thing I find amazing, as I kept looking at the app and saw that I was still paying, yet I had a fine."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted RingGo for comment. A spokesperson said: “The RingGo App uses GPS location data to shortlist and recommend parking sites based on where you are.

“On occasion, if two locations are close by, or if the GPS signal is weak, users may be picked up by the wrong in-App location.

“To combat this, every location has a unique code in the app that matches the printed signage on site.

“In the App at the time of booking, we prompt users to double-check that the in-App location code matches the signage where they are parking.”