Minutes

Councillor Sterry asked:

A Wheely Big Problem in Newport -

We have a major issue due to supermarkets not controlling their trolleys leaving site, Over 520 thousand trolleys were abandoned throughout the UK. Many of these Trolleys are just left abandoned in our streets, indeed some of these end up in our watercourses or just filled with fly tipping. We are aware and currently do use the app called TrolleyWise to report these abandoned trolleys, however can the Council do more to assist with the prevention of these trolleys?

Whenever a trolley is reported via the app which has been dumped in a watercourse, we are finding that it takes several months or that they are not collected at all by TrolleyWise.

When a trolley finds its way into our watercourses this can cause blockages and ultimately may impact residents if the watercourse breaks its banks with flooding. In our Lliswerry ward we have several watercourses that run through residential areas.

I have reported over 115 abandoned trolleys  over the last 12 months and since 2016 I have reported hundreds of abandoned trolleys, with many of these dumped in our watercourses.

Householders have a legal duty to check that the person taking their waste is a registered waste carrier. If they fail to meet your duty of care towards your household waste, householders could receive a £300 fixed penalty notice (FPN) or an unlimited fine if prosecuted. 

Why can’t we treat supermarkets the same as they should have a legal duty to ensure that their supermarket trolleys do not end up in our watercourses?  

What can the council do to escalate this issue with TrolleyWise to ensure that all the trolleys that end up in our watercourses are cleared within a set time?

a.        When a trolley is reported abandoned in a watercourse, then there should be a set target (within 5 working days) to remove the trolley/s

b.        How can the Council support us with the supermarkets / TrolleyWise for target missed?

We all have our part to play for flood prevention, but it does seem that not everyone is taking this issue seriously including our City Council. I could report an abandoned trolley in a watercourse to the council and the response would be please contact TrolleyWise. This is simply not good enough when TrolleyWise FAILS to remove the trolley. We need more support from our Council to ensure that these trolleys are removed within an agreed timescale.

Councillor Forsey responded:

Supermarkets are responsible for collection of their trolleys and most have signed up to schemes with private contractors such as Trolleywise for collection of abandoned trolleys.  This is a UK wide scheme.

The council cannot change primary legislation and has no ability to fine Supermarkets for abandoned trolleys as it is the residents not the business abandoning them.

However, fly tipping is dealt with by the council far more efficiently with an average response time of under 2 days. I have not been satisfied that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.