You may need more than one hand to count the number of abandoned shopping trolleys on a walk around the block in Nowra’s CBD.
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They’re ugly and some have been sitting there, unclaimed, for months.
The problem extends to our waterways – with abandoned trolleys rusting away in the Shoalhaven River.
Shoalhaven City Councillor Nina Cheyne has worked with council staff to develop a motion designed to address Nowra’s trolley problem.
“I want them off the street, they look crap,” Cr Cheyne said.
She will raise the matter at the ordinary meeting tonight.
She said fining supermarkets, such as Woolworths and Coles, would be council’s last resort.
“I don’t want to go too punitive, we need to get our policy right, and win them over,” Cr Cheyne said.
“If they don’t action that, then we have no choice but to fine them.”
There are different rules governing different companies that operate in Nowra’s CBD.
For instance, council stipulated on ALDI’s development application all trolleys must be coin-operated, however, Coles and Woolworths do not have to abide by the same rule.
Their development applications were processed much earlier.
Cr Cheyne believes a blanket rule may help solve Nowra’s trolley problems.
The onus also rests on residents who wheel the trolleys away and do not return them.
“We need to help community people to be responsible,” Cr Cheyne said.