Council impounded 40 abandoned trolleys during May and reported between 60 and 70 trolleys to the trolley tracking agencies as a result of these agencies failing to have them removed.

A recent run around town by Goulburn Post reporters revealed abandoned trolleys everywhere in the CBD - even in Belmore Park.

Outside Bungonia Flats in Goldsmith St on Monday alone, we counted 12 trolleys that had been having a picnic there for at least three days.

Further along Goldsmith St, near the taxi rank another six trolleys lurked menacingly - waiting to become projectile missiles into cars or cabs or shop windows, if given a slight push.

Mayor Geoff Kettle agreed things have got out of hand.

“The Deputy Mayor Bob Kirk and I have been in discussion about it and we are of the same opinion that there has been a marked increase in the number of trolleys in Goulburn’s CBD,” Cr Kettle said.

“Bob (Kirk) has been down to see both supermarket managers to see if something can be done.

“He has sought their input initially because we held a productive meeting with them and police about this about two years ago.

“Following this things improved for a bit - but it seems to have gone off the rails again.

“I am at a loss as to why it seems to be a problem again.”

Cr Kettle was referring to a meeting in June 2013 between himself, Cr Kirk, police and supermarket representatives as well as a Trolley Tracker representative.

Cr Kirk confirmed he had been in to see the managers of both Coles and Woolworths supermarkets as well as the Centre Management of Goulburn Plaza about the issue, but he was waiting for them to come back to him with some answers before he commented, apart from saying the current amount of abandoned trolleys on the street “were a blight on the CBD that Council is spending a lot of money to try and beautify.”

Council’s planning director Louise Wakefield reminded people that there was a $220 fine was in place for people caught abandoning trolleys in a public place, but said no one had ever actually been fined for it.

“There is a fine for the amount of $220 which Council may issue to a person for abandoning an article in a public place,” Mrs Wakefield said.

“Council has not ever issued one of these fines as we would be required to issue it to the person who abandoned the trolley not the owner of the trolley, e.g. Coles, Woolworths.

“The other reason why we have not issued one of these fines is that it is very difficult to obtain the evidence to prove who has abandoned the trolleys.”

However, Mrs Wakefield said Council had been impounding up to 40 trolleys a month.

“Council’s current procedure for dealing with abandoned trolleys is to notify the trolley tracking agencies of the location of the abandoned trolleys and then impound the trolleys if they have not been removed after 24 hours,” she said.

“Council has been monitoring this issue over the last month and have already began to take action.

“Since the beginning of May this year, Council Rangers have reported between 60 and 70 trolleys to the trolley tracking agencies and as a result of these agencies failing to have the trolleys removed.

“Council has impounded 40 trolleys in the month of May 2015 alone. Council staff have also had discussions with the store managers at Kmart and Coles to make them aware of the growing issue over the past month.”

A spokesperson from Coles said they were aware of the issue in Goulburn.

“We are very aware that trolley abandonment is an inconvenience for our customers and communities such as Goulburn,” the spokesperson said.

“We take these local concerns seriously and are doing a significant amount of work to minimise the problem by arranging regular collections of these abandoned trolleys, with vehicles on the road every day in Goulburn.

“To assist Coles in helping manage trolley abandonment, local residents could also use the Coles app on their smartphones to report trolleys using GPS, or call 1800 876 553 (1800 TROLLEY) and we’ll collect them within 24 hours.”