Retailers raise concerns about Marion Council’s proposed trolley by-law
Marion Council’s proposed trolley rule would see retailers and shoppers hit with a $187.50 fine if they failed to collect or return dumped carts - and compel them to keep trolleys on retailers’ properties. Is it fair?
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Retailers say they will be unfairly penalised if Marion becomes the first South Australian council to introduce a by-law cracking down on trolley dumping.
Marion has declared war on trolleys littering its streets and wants to introduce a by-law penalising supermarkets and shoppers for abandoned trolleys.
The policy means anyone caught removing a cart from a shopping centre could be fined $187.50 if they fail to return the trolley after being directed to do so by council officers.
The same penalty would apply to retailers who failed to collect a dumped trolley within 48 hours of being notified.
The by-law would also compel shopping centres to keep trolleys on their precincts and could force them to install wheel locks – to prevent trolleys leaving the premises – or coin deposits on their carts.
At its most recent meeting, elected members received a report containing feedback on the proposal.
The South Australian Independent Retailers said it “blatantly shifted the local government responsibility of littering of shopping trolleys on to retailers”.
“It is not the retailer that perpetrates the littering of his/her own shopping trolleys – it is the public, albeit a very minority group of people,” it said.
“Moreover the proposed request of installing a containment system around our members
premises, such as wheel locks or a coin deposit or areas dedicated with our smaller business
owners, comes at a huge cost of doing business.
“In our view this proposed by-law has not been thought through and will not lead to lowering
or mitigating the nuisance and littering of shopping trolleys.”
Trolley Services Australia – on behalf of the Woolworths Group – questioned how the council was going to police dumped trolleys on its streets.
“As you are aware Trolley Services Australia deals with local government authorities across
Australia in relation to customer trolley issues,” it said.
“While there are many councils who have the authority through their local laws to impose penalties on individuals who abandon a trolley, our project managers cannot recall a single recent instance where this has occurred.”
Trolley Services Australia said unless the council “educated” the public about “responsible use of trolleys” and was prepared to issue fines, then it was not worth introducing the by-law.
Coles agreed saying ultimately it was the “council’s constituents” who were responsible for abandoning the trolleys.
“Collectively if we can better educate the public, this should assist with mitigating the issue at the source,” Coles said.
When the proposal was announced, Marion Mayor Kris Hanna said the council had to step in because supermarkets had failed to take action following the council’s summit to end trolley dumping in 2018 despite promising to do so.
“(The) council is determined to combat trolley dumping, which is a chronic problem for pedestrians and motorists,” Mr Hanna said
“(The) council began working with retailers to tackle the issue last year but their inaction means we must now take a tougher stance.”
Most people who responded to Marion’s plan supported the introduction of the by-law, with 77 per cent of the 47 people who participated in an online survey endorsing the proposal.