Retailers to face HUGE FINES for not collecting neglected trolleys, according to NSW Local Government Minister
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Retailers to face HUGE FINES for not collecting neglected trolleys, according to NSW Local Government Minister
A hefty $3,750 fine can be laid out to supermarkets in NSW on the spot for their dumped trolleys littering the roadside, according to NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock.
Minister Hancock proposed this huge change so that retailers could be penalised for not collecting their abandoned trolleys — an issue that costs the NSW community $17 million a year.
Retailers would face huge fines for neglected trolleys littering the roadside. Credit: AAP Image/Carmela Roche.
Retailers could potentially be fined $660 on the spot for either not collecting abandoned trolleys within three hours of them being deemed a safety risk, or within a week of being notified that they had been left unattended.
The fine would increase the longer the trolleys were left unattended past the three-hour or one-week time mark, respectively.
It must also be noted that for big supermarket chains like Woolworths and Coles, fines of up to $13,750 could be laid out to them for 'more serious offences'.
Meanwhile, individual retailers would face considerably lower fines of up to $2,750 in court for serious offences and really small retailers — those who own less than 25 trolleys — would be exempted.
The proposal also stated that the courts would have to enforce the fines.
NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock said that the proposal would allow the courts to penalise retailers for not collecting their abandoned trolleys, an issue that costs the NSW community $17 million each year. Credit: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi/POOL via NCA NewsWire.
Minister Hancock said that the overhaul of the Impounding Act 1993 has allowed law enforcers to give harsh penalties to owners of shopping trolleys, unregistered cars and trailers, and stray stock if they do not collect their unattended belongings from public places within risk-based time frames.
Hancock said: “Abandoned items such as shopping trolleys and unregistered vehicles are not only a safety hazard and nuisance but a blight on streets, footpaths, nature strips and other public places across the state.”
“We are now future-proofing our laws to arm councils, police and other public land managers with strong powers to take swift and effective action and rid our open spaces of the scourge of abandoned and unattended items.”
Oatley MP Mark Coure noted that although supermarkets had been voluntarily implementing initiatives to solve the issue such as trolley trackers, trolley collections, and coin deposit schemes, the problems posed by neglected trolleys were costly.
Coure said: “It costs the NSW community $17 million a year to deal with abandoned and unattended shopping trolleys, vehicles and animals in public places.”
“These reforms will cut these costs by 60 per cent saving at least $9.7 million a year for councils, other public land managers and the community.”
It was reported that nearly 900 trolleys were dumped in stormwater drains in NSW last year, with dumped goods reporting app Snap Send Solve revealing that 9,506 trolleys were reported as dumped.
Meanwhile, owners of unregistered vehicles — such as cars, boat trailers and caravans — would face fines of $660, a court penalty of up to $2,750, or could have their vehicle impounded on the spot if they leave them in public spaces unattended in risk-based time frames — after 15 day's notice for an unregistered vehicle parked on the roadside, or after 28 days’ notice for abandoned or unattended vehicles.
Owners of stray pets would also face a $660 fine for their stocks — including cats and dogs — that get out and stray onto neighbours' properties or onto public spaces.
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