Timaru District Council
Moving from paper-based bookings to a scalable, digital service
Customer Profile
Timaru District Council replaced fragmented, manual booking processes with a single digital solution – improving visibility, reducing risk, and giving both staff and customers confidence in how bookings are managed.
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Why Watch This Case Study
A practical example of careful preparation paying off.
This session is particularly relevant if your organisation:
- Is still managing bookings through paper forms, emails or manual calendars
- Needs better reporting and visibility across facilities
- Wants to digitalise bookings without disrupting service delivery
- Values strong governance and cross-team alignment during implementation
Timaru’s story shows how time invested upfront can lead to a smoother go-live and stronger outcomes.
Council's Challenge
Before Attekus Bookable, Timaru’s booking environment included:
- Outdated paper-based application forms
- Customer Services manually triaging booking requests
- Separate booking calendars for some sites
- No standard reporting, with any insights produced manually
- Missed or delayed applications due to process bottlenecks
The council recognised that these processes created risk – both for customer experience and for missed opportunities and set out to digitalise bookings in a way that worked for staff and customers alike.
The Approach
After extensive analysis and supplier evaluation, Timaru selected Attekus Bookable as the enterprise solution that best met their requirements.
A critical success factor was early alignment. Timaru brought everyone around the table early including Customer Services, IT, Finance and Communications – to agree on how venues, pricing structures and rules should be built.
The council invested heavily in preparation, including:
- Detailed pricing and fee structures
- Spreadsheet-based venue builds
- Comprehensive user acceptance testing across multiple scenarios
- Short, practical “how-to” videos and guides published on the council website
This approach helped ensure a smooth external launch with minimal disruption.
“Bookable isn’t just a tool – it’s helped our teams work smarter and engage more meaningfully with our community.”
Sam Esterhuyse – Continuous Improvement Business Partner, Timaru District Council
Facilities in Scope
Timaru’s Attekus Bookable implementation covers a diverse portfolio, including:
- 9 community halls
- 10 sporting grounds
- 2 stadiums
- 10 parks
Venues are managed by Customer Services, with parks and sports grounds supported by the parks team – all within a single system.
Tangible Outcomes
Timaru highlighted several immediate and practical benefits.
Operational improvements:
- Single sign-on for both internal staff and customers
- Automatic invoice generation, removing manual workload
- Automated tasks and approvals driven by booking checklists
- Real-time visibility of booking status and task completion
Customer experience:
- Clear, searchable listings with photos and venue descriptions
- Real-time availability and transparent booking rules
- Automated booking confirmations, reminders and updates
- Consistent communications through templated emails
Governance and control:
- Bookings only confirmed once required tasks are completed
- Closures easily managed for maintenance or projects
- Reporting available through built-in dashboards and Power BI
- Feedback loops with Attekus feeding into ongoing product improvement
Key Learnings from Timaru
Timaru shared several insights for organisations considering a similar journey:
- Form a strong project group early with representatives from key teams
- Review and simplify fees and charges early to avoid rushed decisions
- Invest in good venue photos and descriptions – this is what customers see
- Allow sufficient time for data migration, as this can be labour-intensive
- Test extensively using real-world booking scenarios
As noted by the team, Attekus Bookable encourages organisations to rethink pricing, processes and customer journeys – often leading to simpler, more customer-friendly outcomes.
What’s Next?
Timaru continues to expand its use of Attekus Bookable, including plans for:
- Public place trading permits
- Equipment hire (e.g. safety cones for contractors)
- Cemetery bookings (currently in testing and training)
- Signage and banner hire
- Further refinements to improve usability and efficiency
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Lockyer Valley Regional Council
Read how Lockyer Valley moved from a highly manual, TechnologyOne-based process to a seamless online bookings experience, with real-time availability, automated communications, and better control across facilities, courts, equipment hire and more.
See what’s possible with the right preparation.
Learn how organisations like Timaru District Council are modernising bookings without adding complexity.
