Blacktown Council to tackle ‘menace’ shopping trolleys, councillor writes to NSW Local Government Minister

The scourge of stray shopping trolleys across Sydney has sparked one council’s plan to tackle the “public-safety hazard” head-on with the NSW Government. See the proposal.

Wendy Bird collected over 40 IKEA trollies around the Rhodes area, but had to stop when she realised the mammoth task and amount. Picture: Supplied

A Sydney council has tackled the “public-safety hazard” of dumped shopping trolleys head on, with one councillor writing to the new state government, urging a rethink.

NewsLocal revealed how a number of Sydney councils were left frustrated with legislation brought in under the former Liberal NSW Government that curtailed their ability to impound stray trolleys.

In Rhodes, in the City of Canada Bay local government area, resident Wendy Bird had taken it on herself to collect and return hundreds of trolleys littering her suburb.

Canada Bay councillor Andrew Ferguson has written to new NSW Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig to ask for a “review” of the act.

“I am specifically supportive of a review of the new Public Spaces (unattended Property) Act 2021, or amendment to the legislation to address a particular deficiency,” he wrote to the minister.

Dumped shopping trolleys are a common sight around Sydney.

“This legislation has significantly restricted the council’s ability to immediately impound trolleys.”

Further west, Blacktown City Council are tackling the public “menace” head-on.

In a council report, staff described stray trolleys as a “menace” and “pedestrian-safety hazard” around the Blacktown CBD.

Council staff said they had taken the step to install three trolley bays in “council-owned spaces in the Kmart parking area” and that the megastore had proposed installing three more on its own land.

Kmart’s application, the report noted, was approved earlier this month.

The newly installed trolley rack. Picture: Blacktown City Council

A map of the centre with the proposed Gatekeeper points, in green. Picture: Supplied

“Gatekeeper systems” on both Kmart and Westpoint trolleys were also in the works, with both stores applying to install the systems at the site’s boundaries, which would put the brakes on trolleys being taken out – literally.

Both stores’ systems could be operational by July.

Council staff also noted how they’d use the parameters of the new act to issue fines.

“Our officers will identify and tag abandoned shopping trolleys and inform the owners to remove them in line with the timelines prescribed in the act,” the report said.

“After May 1, fines can be issued if owners do not remove the trolleys within the timeframe.

“Owners can be fined $660 per trolley to a maximum of $2,640 for multiple trolleys at one location. We hope that business operators may implement some sort of trolley containment measures to avoid proposed fines, which can add up to be a significant amount over a period of time.”

‘Off their trolley’: New law turns Sydney into a cart graveyard

April 19, 2023

A new law may have inadvertently hampered Sydney councils’ ability to impound abandoned shopping trolleys with one frustrated resident taking matters into her own hands.

Industrious Rhodes resident Wendy Bird has gone on a collection crusade, rounding up hundreds of abandoned shopping trolleys littering her suburb and returning them to the stores.

“I started around my block and it looked much better, so I went around Rhodes and started picking up trolleys – but I didn’t realise how difficult it would be,” Ms Bird said, who estimated she saw over 100 on Tuesday alone.

“I went out for a walk today and must have counted about 130!”

The issue may have been exacerbated by a legislation change in the dying days of the previous state government: the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021.

Rhodes resident Wendy Bird has collected and returned hundreds of IKEA, Kmart and other shops’ trolleys. Picture: Julian Andrews

The act was designed to shift responsibility of abandoned property back onto operators, giving them a window to collect the item before rangers impounded it, in a bid to save council’s costs.

However, it may have instead slowed down the process with councils now unable to impound on the spot.

City of Canada Bay councillor Andrew Ferguson urged for a rethink.

“The worst hotspot is Rhodes and it is now out of control – council needs to do more,” he said.

Wendy Bird said herself and Rhodes residents were tired of hundreds of stray trolleys lining their streets. Picture: Julian Andrews

“State legislation should be amended to strengthen the powers of council to impound trolleys dumped in our local streets and parks.”

Ms Bird explained she reported the trolleys to a host of stores in Rhodes: IKEA, Kmart, Woolies, Coles and Aldi.

“I spent a lot of time trying to get the stores on board, but I’ve learned most don’t have a system in place, or don’t really know how to deal with it,” she said.

Ms Bird now feels the issue is too big for one person to solve.

“It’s just extremely frustrating,” she said. “People don’t care about dumping them, because there are hundreds dumped there already.”

A view of the IKEA store inside Rhodes Shopping Centre Picture: Supplied

A Canada Bay spokesman said council had “impounded fewer trolleys” since the introduction of the new act.

“Prior to its introduction, enforcement officers would both act on complaints and proactively impound trolleys left unattended,” he said.

“Council is now required to provide at least three-hours notice when an obstruction or safety risk is identified, or four days when an item is interfering with public amenity, prior to commencing enforcement action.

“The provisions within the previous legislation allowed council to immediately impound abandoned trolleys.”

Stray shopping trolleys line the streets of Rhodes, Sydney. Picture: Supplied

An IKEA Australian spokeswoman said the company was “disappointed” trolleys were being abandoned.

“We are actively addressing this issue by working closely with council and shopping centre management who provide information to us on the location of abandoned trolleys,” she said.

“We have also increased the frequency of our perimeter collection, where abandoned trolleys are picked up within a radius from the IKEA Rhodes store.”

Around the city, however, some councils said the act had helped their collections.

Abandoned trolleys in Rhodes, Sydney's Inner West. Picture: Supplied

“(Northern Beaches) Rangers receive one or two reports of abandoned trolleys per week, generally located around Brookvale, North Manly and Dee Why, as they are in proximity to shopping precincts,” a Northern Beaches Council spokeswoman said.

“The new legislation provides additional powers to assist with the responsible management of trolleys by the relevant business operator.

“Rangers generally do not impound trolleys, but rather put the onus back on the trolley operator to have them removed, either by their contractor or through the Tolley Trackers website.

“This is more efficient, and they are often removed within a couple of days.”

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