Bring an end to the trolley folly

Liverpool City Council is calling for tougher state laws to end the menace of abandoned trolleys.

Mayor Ned Mannoun says the current legislation makes it impossible for councils to immediately impound all trolleys, and this is why thousands of trolleys a day are cluttering up Sydney’s streets.

“Trolleys are being randomly dumped across Sydney and the owners are not doing enough to retrieve them,” Mayor Mannoun said.

“Recent state legislation has not made it easier for Councils to deal with the problem. The law should be changed so Councils can immediately impound any and all abandoned trolleys, removing the problem from our streets.

“Abandoned trolleys are a massive safety issue, with the potential to cause pedestrian and motor car accidents,” he said.

Councils can only immediately impound trolleys that don’t have owner details or are a hazard.

If a trolley’s not causing a hazard, the Ranger must inform the owner and wait three hours before impounding it. An identifiable trolley left on public properly has to be left for four days before it can be impounded.

“Branded trolleys rarely carry contact details of the local retail outlet, making it difficult to comply with the legislation,” Mayor Mannoun said.

“The notification requirements are onerous and make the impounding process overly complicated.”

From Friday, 21 February, Liverpool Council will be taking firm action to address this issue.

We’re going to impound as many dumped trolleys as we can, to get them off the streets, Mayor Mannoun said.

“Shopping trolley owners that continue to show disregard for abandoned trolleys will receive fines that range from $660 to $1,320 a trolley with larger fines for clusters.

“At this stage, Council is not imposing fines but will do so unless the problem of abandoned trolleys is resolved.

“Impounded trolleys that are not collected will be fed through Council’s scrap metal shredder,” he said.