Tackling Trolley Trouble
Harlow Council is determined to stop shopping
trolleys being dumped in the town so is to charge local stores for
the collection, storage and return of each trolley abandoned.
From 3rd September any abandoned trolley
reported by the public or spotted by the Council or Kier Harlow
will be collected and taken to storage. Stores will be informed of
this and trolleys will only be released once a £70 fee for each has
been paid. Traders who do not claim their trolleys will still be
charged for each trolley retrieved to cover the Council's costs of
collecting, storing and disposing of trolleys.
Around 800 trolleys are retrieved each year
from the town’s streets and green areas and in the past the Council
has ended up disposing of them or returning them to the stores.
Councillor Eleanor Macy, Chair of the
Council’s Environment & Community Committee, said: “Dumped
trolleys are a big problem in Harlow. They create an eyesore on the
environment and are a safety hazard if left around. Some end up in
watercourses and ponds, which endanger local wildlife. The
collection and storage is costing local taxpayers money so it’s
only right that we should charge the stores for every one we
collect.
“Charging should give store owners an extra
incentive to do something about the problem. However the people
dumping them should also take responsibility. If you take a trolley
home, be prepared to take it back, not dump it. If we catch you, we
will fine you.”
There are preventative options open to stores
which range from them making their own checks and collections, to
modifications to the trolleys themselves preventing customers from
removing them from shopping areas. ASDA has recently installed a
system which prevents trolleys being taken out of the Water Gardens
area by locking their wheels.
In 2005 the Council built a giant shopping
trolley mountain, off Second Avenue, to highlight the issue.
Although stores have agreed that there is a problem, the Council
has been urging action to do something about it.
Anyone caught abandoning a trolley commits the
offence of dumping and this carries a maximum fine of £50,000 if
the matter goes to court.
Dumped shopping trolleys can be reported to
the Council on (01279) 446655. Eyewitness information on people
seen dumping trolleys can also be reported to the same number.