Push is on for coin trolleys

By Melissa Grant and
PAKENHAM shoppers could soon be pushing coin-operated trolleys, with plans to make them compulsory at all local supermarkets.
Coin-operated trolleys could be introduced within the next couple of months as the Cardinia Shire Council reviews a number of its local laws.
Shoppers would be required to slot a gold coin in their trolley which would be refunded upon returning it to its bay.
Cardinia councillor Brett Owen said council was looking closely at making coin-operated trolleys compulsory.
Beaconsfield already has coin-operated trolleys at its Aldi store and they have also been introduced at supermarkets in the nearby City of Casey.
Residents say trolleys from Pakenham’s three supermarkets and the Coles supermarket at Lakeside are often left all over town by shoppers who cannot be bothered to return them.
Ritchies Supa IGA Pakenham store manager Ben Vandenberg said he fully supported the council’s proposal which he hopes will help minimise the number of trolleys disappearing from the supermarket.
“In January we bought 50 new shopping trolleys and now we’re down to 25,” he said.
“We’d like to introduce them but we don’t really want to unless Coles and Safeway do it.”
The Main Street store employs a maintenance worker to retrieve the $110 shopping trolleys every Thursday. Mr Vandenberg said it wasn’t uncommon for trolleys to be found a fair distance from the store.
“He found one at Red Rooster once which is about four kilometres away,” Mr Vandenberg said.
Cardinia manager of governance and communications Doug Evans said the council was likely to adopt a similar law to the Casey Council which requires premises with 25 or more trolleys to have coin-operated ones.
Mr Evans said businesses would be able to request an exemption if council followed the Casey model.
“Bunnings (Fountain Gate) for instance don’t have them because it’s impossible to take their trolleys away from the store,” he said.
Cardinia mayor Kate Lempriere said earlier this year that supermarket trolleys left scattered around Pakenham were a scourge on the town.
“They are an eyesore,” Cr Lempriere said.
“They end up in drains, stuck in trees. They are unsightly and we need to do something about it.”
Safeway and Coles directed the News to their media and communications departments but they did not return our call before the News went to print.