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LETTER: Langley Township reliance on online rec registration leaves out many

Not everyone can sign up for programs online, letter writer notes
Black Press Media
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Dear Editor,

I am concerned that the TOL is making it harder to access drop-in programs by only offering them through online pre-registrations.

Many people cannot afford WiFi and a home computer, to find out what programs are being offered, where and when.

To use public computers daily would be impractical.

Now the programs are listed daily (not monthly or weekly) so it is hard to plan your visits, even though you are expected to book at least 24 hours before the class happens and if you don’t cancel the class 24 hours ahead or you miss the session, you lose the admission fee.

I think these changes may have been made to reduce paper usage (which I support) but this is making it harder to access the programs.

The other possible reason the daily pre-registering was developed was because some classes had too many people arriving for drop-in sessions. Then people had to be stopped at the door (or main desk) and refused entry.

But we weren’t charged any money. Surely a simpler solution was to use a larger room for popular programs. If that isn’t possible, set up a second class.

Why can’t we have drop-in programs, each season, on paper and available at each rec centre (and online)?

Before COVID this was printed as a one week pattern, for one rec centre, on a half sheet of paper with brief descriptions and a code for the level of skills needed, on the back side. One could be on display at each rec centre. That worked quite well in the past.

If that isn’t possible, perhaps we need to cancel all drop-in programs and go to monthly registrations (in person or online) for planned classes. If too many people sign up, then figure out a way to accommodate them or put them on a priority waitlist for the next set of classes.

Let’s make sure that these programs are inexpensive, easy to find, read, understand and plan around – for everyone, regardless of income, computer access and skills.

Elaine Hindson, Langley

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