Local resident and SES volunteer, Trevor Fellowes, is “fed up” with the buck passing associated with the ongoing problem of shopping trolleys being abandon under Dunolly Bridge.
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Over the years he has watched the dumping escalate, and when he approaches either the Singleton Council, or the supermarkets, Mr Fellowes receives the same tired responses.
Council staff tell him they will inform the rangers in regard to retrieving the trolleys while the supermarkets refer Mr Fellowes to the contractors who collect them.
Yet, at present, he estimates there are around twenty trolleys in, or scattered along, the riverbank.
Some of them have been there for quite a while as they have foliage growing over them.
“So who is going to take responsibility?” he demands.
A frustrated Mr Fellowes wants the current crop cleaned up, surveillance cameras installed under the bridge, and for all of our local supermarkets to employ Aldi’s user pay model in regard to the use of shopping trolleys.
“You don’t to see many Aldi trolleys lying around the place,” he observes.
When The Argus questioned Singleton Council about when the current build-up of trolleys would be dealt with, they were unable to give us a date for any such retrieval.
“Retrieval and impoundment of trolleys from a river environment is a complex process, and Council is working through the logistical arrangements for the trolleys to be collected and impounded,” a Council spokesperson says.
“Once impounded, Council has authority to give written notice to the relevant owners of the trolleys to pay the impoundment fees and collect the trolleys within 28 days.”
Mr Fellowes says it would be easy for Council to retrieve the trolleys and what happens after this is for the Council and supermarkets to work out.
“We often retrieve them as a part of our SES training, it’s not that hard. We attach ropes and drag them up the bank,” he says.
“How can we call ourselves a tidy town.”