Residents and business owners in an exclusive harbor-front suburb are furious that their beloved community has become a ghetto of abandoned shopping carts.
Locals have taken to calling Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Docklands ‘Dumplands’ due to the large volume of trams scattered on pavements, outside apartment blocks and in parks.
Frustrated supermarket owner Sam Bombagi is fed up with shoppers throwing their trolleys everywhere, which has become an eyesore.
“It’s a very windy place, so sometimes the trams just go down the path and into the streets. It’s dangerous and looks bad for the suburb,” he told A Current Affair.
The seaside suburb of Docklands (pictured) has been nicknamed ‘Dumplands’ due to abandoned shopping trolleys.
Mr. Bombagi is so fed up that he has even confronted the tram overturners caught in the act.
“I actually ask them and they don’t really care,” he said.
“They don’t care about the dollar or two dollars, so they just keep doing it.”
Mr. Bombagi doesn’t have carts in his store, but he has a simple solution.
“I think the blocking system is probably the best way, where the carts will not move more than 500 or 600 meters from the commercial center of the district,” he said.
“This way we will prevent people from using the trams here.”
Residents have filed many complaints, but are frustrated that their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
Other locals have taken a light-hearted approach to the ongoing saga.
The problems of abandoned trams have inspired a humorous Facebook page‘Trolleys of Docklands’, which tells ‘the true stories of lost trams living on the streets of Docklands’.
Posters on the page write captions on photographs of abandoned carts and some even write poetry inspired by the carts.
Residents of Docklands (pictured) are fed up with their suburb being used as a dumping ground for abandoned trams.
The theme has inspired the ‘Trolleys of Docklands’ Facebook page
Plague of abandoned trolleys in Docklands described by locals as ‘a shocking situation’
Melbourne City Council is aware of the growing number of complaints about abandoned trams in Docklands.
It is investigating the matter and warned that those caught dumping strollers could be fined up to $1,150.
“As owners of the trolleys, we urge supermarket operators to establish processes to recover them quickly,” the council said.
We have met with supermarket operators in Docklands on numerous occasions in the past to try to resolve this issue, and we encourage everyone to report abandoned trolleys to Trolley Tracker.’
The city council has warned that those caught throwing carts could receive a fine of up to $1,150.
Woolworths says the vast majority of shoppers do the right thing by returning strollers to the store.
“We understand that abandoned carts can be a nuisance and that’s why we’ve invested millions in collection services and have additional measures in place including a locking mechanism to help mitigate their impact on the community,” a spokesperson said.
‘We work closely with dedicated collection contractors who respond quickly to reports of abandoned carts to return them to our stores.
“They also conduct regular sweeps for abandoned carts on the streets surrounding our stores.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Woolworths for further comment.
