Abandoned shopping trolleys 'denting public pride', councillor warns

Abandoned shopping trolleys are “denting public pride” in parts of Paisley, an elected member has warned.

Concerns have been raised about the number of carts blighting the environment across Renfrewshire’s biggest town.

Councillor Janis McDonald has drawn attention to the Trolleywise app which allows users to report trolleys that have been dumped in their community so they can be retrieved.

The Labour rep for Paisley Northwest has urged more supermarkets to sign up to the service so more can be done to tackle the form of fly-tipping, which she said “scars our public space”.

Councillor McDonald said: “Volunteering is an area familiar to me and I learned about the Team Up to Clean Up initiative.

“It supports the council to increase street and drain cleaning. It reports that thousands are working together with the council to make Renfrewshire a cleaner, more vibrant place to live, work and visit.

“For me, the partnership in Team Up to Clean Up shows a great deal of success, however, in Ward 4 – Paisley Northwest – abandoned supermarket trolleys remain a visible hurdle to the local perception of success.

“I wanted to draw attention to the Trolleywise App. It is a nationwide service offering a range of trolley retrieval services for abandoned trolleys. Unfortunately, not all of our stores are signed up to it.

“Abandoned trolleys do not only create dangers for children and wildlife, but they also scar our public space and dent public pride.

“Despite a difficult climate many stores are doing very well. We need them to help too.”

The problem is not restricted to Paisley Northwest, however, with deserted trolleys regularly popping up in the likes of nearby Seedhill in the Paisley Northeast and Ralston ward.

Last month, the SNP’s Councillor Jennifer Adam asked council officers to rethink ways of tackling fly-tipping in areas of deprivation.

When making her case for a skip to be dropped off at hotspots at an environment board, she said: “I know we’ve all got fly-tipping hotspots within our ward, but I’m not sure whether enforcement is the way to go down too much when you’re talking about areas of deprivation and mass unemployment, things like that.

“What the problem seems to be within my ward, in Seedhill, is residents don’t have transport, they don’t have cars, they don’t have pick-ups, hence the reason we’ve got shopping trolleys all over Seedhill.”

Councillor Michelle Campbell, convener of the infrastructure, land and environment policy board, said: “It’s great to see praise for our Team Up to Clean Up campaign as we’re extremely proud of the work we’ve been carrying out jointly with communities to make a positive difference to Renfrewshire.

“We would ask people to please ensure that shopping trolleys are returned to the store if they’ve been taken off site, but if you see any abandoned then they can be reported on the Trolleywise app for collection. If a supermarket is not on the app, please report it directly to the store.”