Community & Business
21 August, 2024
Action wanted on trolley ‘litter’
LOCALS are sick and tired of seeing discarded shopping trolleys in their streets and creeks and are calling on the two major supermarkets to introduce coin-operated trolleys or a system that locks the wheels so they cannot be removed from the precinct.
The issue has plagued the creek behind Atherton’s Woolworths supermarket for decades and, last week, raised the ire of the community when images of several trolleys in the creek were posted on social media.
Similarly, in Mareeba, Coles supermarket trolleys are being discarded in gullies and people are regularly seen brazenly wheeling the trolleys down the town’s streets, even across the John Doyle bridge and along Anzac Avenue.
Last week, the issue came to a head for Atherton local Ben Stratton who decided he was going to take action and called on others to join him to get the trolleys out of Priors Creek.
Ben and Trent Freeman ended up pulling out six trolleys which they returned to Woolworths.
“We all have a duty to make our town great,” Ben said.
“We have not solved the problem but we have found a solution to the eyesore.
“There is still some work to be done. I’d love to hear from a few able-bodied people that could donate an hour of their time to give me a hand to just collect the rest of the litter that is strewn all over the creek,” he wrote on Facebook.
Ben’s challenge was answered by many locals who offered to join him on Sunday for the clean-up, while many others gave him and Trent glowing praise on dragging the trolleys out.
He said Woolworths had offered to put on morning tea for the volunteers involved in the Sunday clean-up.
This is not the first time the community has taken action to clean the creek of trolleys, with around 15 trolleys pulled out of the same area by a group of concerned citizens in 2022, and, according to comments on social media, it’s been an ongoing battle since the big supermarket opened in the mid-90s.
Ben, along with many others who commented on the issue, believes introducing coin-operated trolleys would go a long way to solving the problem.
“If you made it a $5 rental that was returned, we would have people driving the streets looking for them,” he said.
“We already have people going through the bins looking for 10c cans and bottles.”
A Woolworths spokesperson acknowledged that “abandoned trolleys can be a nuisance” and that the supermarket invested “millions in collection services and have additional measures in place to help mitigate their impact in the community”.
“We work closely with dedicated collection contractors in the Atherton area who respond to reports of abandoned trolleys to return them to our stores. They also conduct regular sweeps for abandoned trolleys in the streets surrounding our store,” the spokesperson said.
Locals can report abandoned trolleys by going to www.trolleytracker.com.au/woolworths.
In Mareeba, locals have posted images on Facebook of trolleys in the gully behind Morrow Street and the creek under the railway track.
Another person said there were trolleys in the creek crossing on the walkway behind the Mareeba Leagues Club.
The Express asked Mareeba Shire Council if it had raised the issue with Coles and whether council had suggested the supermarket giant install a locking system on its trolleys.
In a statement, council said it had raised the matter with the Coles Trolley Management Department in Brisbane which had advised that the supermarket had a collection vehicle which attended Mareeba once a fortnight to pick up any reported discarded trolleys.
Mayor Angela Toppin said council had also spoken to Coles about the possibility of installing a lock perimeter system.
“Coles has advised that these systems can be expensive to install and maintain and while they have investigated this for Mareeba, they did not progress with the lock system,” she said.
A Coles spokesperson said the supermarket was “actively working to make this better in Mareeba, including vehicles on the road frequently for the collection of abandoned trolleys”.
“We are always reassessing our trolley management and 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,” the spokesperson said.
To report a discarded trolley, use the Coles app, call 1800 876 553, or submit a report online via www.coles.com.au/customer-service/abandoned-trolley
