SHOPPING trolley collection fees for certified small retailers were waived during the February Swan council meeting following a six-month trial.

The item considered the results of the trial program, which aimed to support smaller businesses while maintaining enforcement measures for major retailers.

Cr Rashelle Predovnik moved that council permanently adopt the waiver and continue targeted enforcement against high volume trolley offenders.

“The data from the trial is very clear,” she said.

“Small retailers account for just 3 per cent of abandoned trolleys and the overwhelming majority, almost 90 per cent, come from major retail chains.

“The fee waiver has had a small impact on the overall trolley numbers but it has provided fairness and support for genuinely small locally owned businesses.

“Its enforcement is about changing behaviour where the problem sits and our focus should remain on the big operators not the corner IGA.”

The officer report confirmed that IGA Midland and IGA Ballajura together accounted for roughly 3 per cent of trolley collections during the trial period.

Cr Rod Henderson seconded the motion and said compliance efforts should focus on larger operators.

“Coles and Woollies does need to be ramped up,” he said.

Cr Bowman questioned the consistency of applying different fee arrangements.

“You’ve got two different systems for different businesses,” he said.

“You don’t have some people can go through a red light and some people can’t.

“This is a local law and it should be all people getting treated the same, all businesses getting treated the same.”

Despite opposition, council carried the motion 8/5, formally adopting the waiver policy for certified small retailers while maintaining enforcement requirements for major retailers, and resolving to return a report after 12 months for review.