Wheels fall of City of Belmont trolley controls

Ms Gee said the City of Belmont was unable to control the number of trolleys, particularly around Belmont Avenue and Gabriel and Homewood streets.

“On occasions I have counted seven to 10 trolleys in certain locations,” she said.

“They present a health and safety risk to residents.

She said they could also be used by criminals to climb on and get into back yards.

Ms Gee told the City’s recent council meeting that questions about the dumping of shopping trolleys had been presented to the council on many occasions over the past 10 years but “nothing has changed”.

City community and statutory services director Neville Deague acknowledged that abandoned trolleys were an ongoing problem.

“There are improvements noted when the City organises infringement blit-zes, however the improvements are always short-lived,” he said.

“The City has tried writing and speaking to representatives from major supermarkets and firms who responsible for collecting trolleys outlining council and community concerns.”

He said coin-operated shopping trolleys and electronic methods for restricting the range of shopping trolleys had been suggested as possible solutions.

“Unfortunately the City can’t convince the major supermarkets to change their ways,” he said.

“The only solution seems to be making infringements for abandoned shopping trolleys more costly, which involves amen-ding the City’s local laws.”

Mr Deague said the City would again approach supermarkets to make changes.

These could include using wheel locks if trolleys leave a certain radius, as is used in other locations, or coin-operated trolleys.

“Fines are in place for abandoned shopping trolleys, but the fines need to be increased to provide a sufficient deterrent,” Mr Deague said.