Shopping trolley solution is in sight
The Murray Bridge council may soon be granted new powers that would allow it to clean up the city’s streets once and for all.
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New powers may finally allow the Murray Bridge council to clean up the city’s abandoned shopping trolley problem.
Abandoned trolleys have been a plague on local streets for years, but the council has been almost powerless to do anything about them – until now.
The state government has drafted laws which would give councils a greater ability to deal with trolleys, noise pollution and other problems.
Under the proposed changes:
- Retailers would have to label their trolleys with contact details for a trolley collection service, or risk a $5000 fine
- Councils could order retailers to collect trolleys anywhere within one kilometre of their premises, or risk a $60,000 fine
- The law would clearly state that it is the responsibility of all businesses to prevent littering, including abandoned trolleys
Councils would also be given authority to create local trolley management plans, which could require retailers to round up any rogue trolleys within 72 hours.
Local Government Minister Geoff Brock said the draft laws struck the right balance “in terms of giving councils the tools they need to deal with the issue without being too punitive towards retailers”.
The proposed laws will be introduced to state parliament next year, following a public consultation period which opened on Monday.
‘Pick any street and you’re bound to find one’
Locals offered dozens of suggestions when Murray Bridge News asked where to find a trolley for a photo on Monday morning.
Our post in a community Facebook group received dozens of replies within only a few minutes.
So many replies, in fact, that we decided to plot them on a map.
As it turned out, group members had spotted abandoned trolleys all over the city, from north to south.
Many of the trolleys had been seen in parks and on vacant blocks.
Group members did not report seeing any in the western end of town, furthest from the CBD supermarkets; or on the east side, where there were no major retailers.
However, as one Murray Bridge News reader noted, most of the abandoned trolleys were more than 1km from the supermarkets which owned them.
- More information about the draft legislation: www.epa.sa.gov.au.
- Have your say: Write to epainfo@sa.gov.au with the subject line “Local nuisance and litter control 2022”, or to Local Nuisance and Litter Control Act 2022, Environment Protection Authority, GPO Box 2607, Adelaide SA 5000 by February 10.
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