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May 18, 2023

Perth councils call for government help to rein in roving trolleys

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Fed-up Perth councils are fighting back over trolley litter, calling on the state government to implement stringent and uniform shopping trolley containment laws.

It comes as more councils vote in favour of amending their local laws to bill retailers up to $500 for each abandoned trolley not collected from their suburbs.

Abandoned shopping trolleys are causing a headache for local councils.

The City of Swan in Perth's east is the latest council to take a hard line against abandoned trolleys that not only create an eyesore and an environmental risk, but also hit ratepayers where it hurts.

The council collectively wrote to retailers last month asking them to "step up and take responsibility" for their abandoned carts and will soon vote to amend its local laws to charge them a trolley impoundment fee.

Councillors say trolley litter is an escalating problem in the area.

"Abandoned trolleys are an eyesore for our residents, plus they create safety risks for footpath users, cyclists and motorists, and also clog our waterways," City of Swan deputy mayor Mel Congerton said.

"Our community deserves suburbs that are appealing and safe places to walk, ride and play, and not to have to deal with shopping trolleys littering their local streets, footpaths and parks.

"Retailers need to step up and take responsibility for the nuisance that abandoned trolleys are causing in the City of Swan and in the broader Perth metropolitan area."

Congerton said the council was lobbying the supermarket chains "to take urgent action" and the city had written to the big retailers including Coles, SpudShed, ALDI, Woolworths, IGA, Target, Kmart, Bunnings and Big W "to request a more regular, proactive collection of abandoned shopping trolleys in the City of Swan".

The move comes after the city conducted a trial to collect the shopping trolleys in the Midland area.

Over the course of 12 months, 80 shopping trolleys were collected each week at an estimated cost of $45,000 a year to ratepayers.

City of Swan councillors will now consider a law amendment at an upcoming council meeting in a similar move to the City of Bayswater. Those councillors voted to fine retailers $450 for each uncollected trolley, up from $100.

Similar changes were implemented at the City of Cockburn, which voted recently to up the fine from $25 to $100, with some success.

"The legislation has been effective in helping the city maintain tidy streets," City of Cockburn acting head of community safety and ranger services Gemma Dix said.

Retailers being hit hard by local councils over abandoned shopping trolleys.Credit: Quentin Jones

"However, infringements can only be issued if we know the exact supermarket that the trolley belongs to, which can be difficult to prove.

"The infringements have not resulted in a notable reduction in abandoned shopping trolleys. Because of this, the city only applies them judiciously."

Dix said the city had far fewer issues with coin-operated trolleys and implored the supermarkets to take more responsibility for collecting their trolleys and install coin-based containment systems.

She said that despite the city appealing to the retailers to address the issue, they had received "little response".

Woolworths spokesperson said while the company recognised abandoned trolleys "can be a nuisance", it invested millions in collection services to help mitigate the impact on the community.

"We work closely with dedicated collection contractors who respond quickly to reports of abandoned trolleys to return them to our stores," they said.

"They also conduct regular sweeps for abandoned trolleys in the streets surrounding our stores."

A Coles person had a similar response: "We are always reassessing our trolley management and take local feedback into account when deciding what methods to employ at any of our stores, including the use of coin locks and electronic wheel lock systems."

But Dix said retailers were not taking the problem seriously enough and state government intervention was necessary.

"This is not only an issue for our community, but across the Perth metropolitan area," she said.

"Local governments are often stuck with managing this issue as there is ineffective state legislation to hold supermarkets to account."

In October last year, City of Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett moved a resolution at a WA Local Government Association meeting to support a petition calling on the state government to implement trolley containment laws.

The association is awaiting the outcome.

In the City of Swan, staff are encouraging residents to use Snap Send Solve, an app that enables residents to report abandoned trolleys and other issues from their smartphones.

Residents can also report shopping trolleys via the Trolley Tracker app, the Coles/Woolworths website or the store in question.

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