Parramatta Council to crack down on trolley dumping with major retailers

Abandoned shopping trolleys continue to litter the streets known as Sydney’s second CBD despite new laws aimed at cracking down on the blight. Here is what a council wants to do next.

Abandoned trolleys at Phillip St, Parramatta.

A frustrated Parramatta Council plans to crack down on abandoned shopping trolleys littering its streets and wants to join forces with major supermarkets to tackle the problem that won’t go away despite new legislation introduced in May.

Councillor Donna Wang said repetitive requests from residents wanting the council to take action prompted her to raise the issue again at a meeting this week.

“Just take a short walk around the city you can see there is an increase of trolleys left in the public domain,’’ she said.

“In some cases they are left in people’s carparks and sometimes even along the footpath.’’

She feared the trolleys could pose a safety threat to children and people with disabilities.

Abandoned trolleys at Phillip St, Parramatta.

Abandoned trolleys at the corner of Phillip and Charles streets, near the wharf.

“This doesn’t look good for our city – as Sydney’s second CBD,’’ she said.

“It’s not something we want to be allowing, but unfortunately there are too many people that have no desire to do the right thing by returning the trolleys and this should be unacceptable.’’

The council has called for a review of the new Public Spaces (Unattended Property Act) 2021. Since it was introduced, council no longer have the power to impound trolleys.

Councillor Michelle Garrard said it had cost the council $380,000 to impound trolleys two years ago and wants the council to bring back the powers so council officers could seize the trolleys.

Under the new laws enforced this year, owners and others responsible for private property – such as shopping trolleys – left in public face stronger action if they do not remove their property within “risk-based’’ time frames.

The new legislation puts a three-hour collection time limit on trolleys that cause a safety hazard and a seven-day limit for others. Fines range from $660 trolley to $13,750 apply.

But the problems persist across Sydney.

Councillor Lorraine Wearne said it would be better for retailers to use lock-in trolleys instead of getting them to buy them back from the council if they were impounded.

“ … Shopkeepers don’t want to buy them back because they can buy them cheaper than it is for them to pay the council to pay for them back,’’ she said.

Abandoned trolleys at 180 George St, Parramatta.

The Woolworths Metro supermarket has not opened at George St yet but carts are still dumped there.

The council unanimously voted for seven measures to crack down on the problem.

They included getting the council’s chief executive Gail Connolly to organise a meeting with major retailers to advocate for increased street patrols and collection of dumped trolleys.

Ms Connolly has also been requested to organise a team and program to deal with trolleys “that are left all around the city” and hold an enforcement blitz to prevent them becoming a safety hazard throughout the city.

Retailers will also be requested to implement systems to ensure their trolleys are locked so they cannot leave a shopping centre or carpark.

Ms Connolly will also provide a report to the council including how many trolleys were impounded annually over the past five years and how much it cost.

The Lord Mayor will also write to the state government to outline the ineffectiveness of the new Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021.

The council recruited an illegal dumping officer in early 2023 to work with retailers about trolley dumping but it continues to plague the area.

The council uses a tracking app to notify supermarkets the trolleys that must be picked up by the owners.

A council spokesman said under new development applications for supermarkets would have a consent condition that would require a system to stop trolleys leaving the premises.

The spokesman said the council was liaising with local supermarket managers, national head offices of major supermarkets and relevant government departments on the issue.

“The focus of this work has been to increase the accountability of local supermarkets to collect their dumped shopping trolleys,’’ he said.