Abandoned trolleys worth 100,000 in fines for Alice Springs Town Council

Alice Springs retailers have paid an eye-watering amount in fees to the local council after more than 500 abandoned trolleys were impounded by rangers in a six-month period. See the figures here.

Businesses in Alice Springs have forked over more than $100,000 in fees to the local council forced to recover abandoned trolleys in the town.

According to reports presented to Alice Springs Town Council, 317 abandoned trolleys were impounded between December 1 and February 28, with more than 550 trolleys collected between the start of the operation in October and February 28.

Under a council by-law, retailers are required to pay $177.80 to release an impounded shopping trolley.

Council confirmed on Tuesday about $100,000 had been invoiced in trolley release fees since October 2022, with retailers generally being quick to pay the fee.

More than $100,000 in fees and about 550 abandoned trolleys have been collected in six months in Alice Springs.

In the most recent rangers report presented to council in March, rangers manager Luke Allen said all retailers were now actively working towards solutions for trolley retention and collection.

“To this end, the ranger team will be testing the efficacy of their reporting and collection arrangements throughout the month of March,” he said.

“This will inform our ongoing approach moving forward.”

A Coles spokeswoman said the supermarket giant spent a significant amount each year on maintaining its trolleys, some of which went to the cost of collecting trolleys removed from premises.

“Abandoned trolleys are a nuisance to local communities and we are actively working to make this better across the Alice Springs area, including daily collections of abandoned trolleys with vehicles on the road and maintaining wheel lock systems which discourage trolleys being removed from our premises,” she said.

“We are always reassessing our trolley management and will 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.”

A Woolworths spokeswoman said that it had invested “millions” in collection services to mitigate the impact of abandoned trolleys on communities.

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

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

“These efforts not only help preserve local amenity, but also ensure we have enough trolleys available for our customers.”

Rangers dealing with influx in abandoned cars

Alice Springs rangers are dealing with an influx of abandoned vehicles, with some public patrols abandoned in January to meet demand.

In a report presented to Alice Springs town council on Tuesday, Rangers manager Luke Allen wrote between December 1, 2022 and February 28, 2023 57 vehicles were removed by rangers, with 26 of those in the month of January, 2023.

In January 2022, council documents show rangers received just seven reports of abandoned vehicles.

A note in the report states public places by-law patrols were put on hold for the month of January to address the influx of abandoned vehicles during the period.

Public places patrols are usually conducted with the Northern Territory Police Community Safety Social Order team to address issues such as rough sleeping in public places or other complaints against relevant bylaws.

The previous quarter, between September 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022, saw 38 vehicles impounded.

The statistics come after Alice Springs experienced a “weekend of anarchy” where three separate car fires were reported to police in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It follows police new crime statistics revealing there was an average of one Alice Springs home or business broken into, damaged or burgled every hour in the month of January.