Why Gympie council may fine shops over abandoned trolleys

Reports of trolleys being thrown from car parks, and an ever growing number of them being abandoned in the city, has prompted one councillor to say enough – and the council itself is not far behind.

Councillor Bruce Devereaux wants something to be done about the continuing abandoment of shopping trolleys in the city centre, and the council could deliver and follow in the footsteps of the Fraser Coast Regional Council by threatening fines for retailers.

Tighter laws and potential fines for businesses over dumped trolleys could be on the cards amid a growing number of the errant shopping aids being left scattered across Gympie’s city centre.

Residents would be forgiven for thinking a trolley invasion may be underway in the past month, with a number of the wayward devices being found abandoned far from their commercial homes.

In May one trolley spent several days calling upper Mary St home, at one point even being turned upside down but still not removed.

The problem drove Councillor Bruce Devereaux to take to social media page on Sunday about his “scavenger hunt” across the CBD.

Mr Devereaux said his efforts were sparked by safety concerns.

He had been told trolleys were being thrown off the top of Nash St carparks.

Councillor Bruce Devereaux said he usually finds about eight abandoned trolleys each night when he goes out, totalling more than 70 across a month-long period.

He estimated he was photographing about “eight trolleys a night” when he went out, which was two or three times a week.

The council’s sustainability director Adrian Burns said there appeared to be a “higher number of abandoned trolleys than usual at the moment and council has received some complaints recently”.

Mr Burns said the Fraser Coast Regional Council’s new policy threatening stiff fines for retailers came in the wake of a review of its local laws, and Gympie’s council will soon be taking a look at its rules.

The council also had an eye on what others across the state were doing to combat this same issue.

“Council have recently been working with local supermarket management teams to encourage them to be more proactive in recovering trolleys reported to their trolley tracker lines and via their trolley recovery apps,” Mr Burns said.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said the retailer was aware abandoned trolleys could be a “nuisance”.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths said abandoned trolleys, like this one which spent a week in upper Mary St, were a nuisance and as such the organisations spent a significant amount of money to collect them.

“That’s why we invest millions in collection services to help mitigate their impact in the community,” she said.

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

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

A Coles spokesman echoed this saying the company “spends a significant amount on maintaining them each year, some of which is the cost of collecting trolleys that have been removed from our premises”.

“Abandoned trolleys are a nuisance to local communities and we are actively working to make this better, including regular collections of abandoned trolleys with vehicles and installing wheel lock systems where suitable.”

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Coles’ trolleys can be reported through the company’s app, or by using GPS, Snap Send Solve, or calling 1800 TROLLEY (1800 876 553).

Woolworths works with the Trolley Tracker service or by calling 1800 641 497.

Mr Devereaux said he did not want fines to be brought in but “something has to be done”.

He said the supermarkets made a lot of money from the region’s residents and there should be some reciprocation.

“I just want supermarkets to do something … even just this small thing,” he said.