AMBER Moncrieff is fed up with clearing away shopping trolleys.
For the past decade she's constantly stepped outside her business, Hunter Plastic Surgery, only to be met with discarded shopper trolleys from the nearby Charlestown Square.
At times, Ms Moncrieff said there can be as many as 10 to 15 trolleys strewn across the footpath.
"[There's] trolleys blocking our driveway, the entrance to our building, blocking the building, ladies with prams trying to navigate the footpath because of overturned trolleys," she said.
The visual impact of the abandoned trolleys is also an issue.
"We want the business to look smart," she said. "We're a high-end business.
"Having trolleys dumped out the front, usually with takeaway food wrappers and sometimes other rubbish as well, looks terrible."
Ms Moncrieff and other businesses in Hopetoun Street - Fort Finance, Admix Media, Dome Financial and Shartru Wealth Management - have banded together in a bid to force supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths to remove their trolleys more promptly or introduce coin locks to dissuade dumping by shoppers.
"I understand, everyone has finite resources, but when you're looking at billion-dollar profits, it doesn't seem like there's finite resources," Ms Moncrieff said.
"If I let my patients leave the surgery with used surgical dressings and they left them in a Hunter Plastic Surgery bag outside your business, you'd be all over me. So why doesn't it work the other way?"
Earlier this year Ms Moncrieff attended a meeting of Charlestown Square retailers who provide trolleys to discuss the issue. It's understood that no representatives from Coles and Woolworths were present.
In November 2022 the former Liberal NSW Government introduced the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act which means the owner of service items like shopping trolleys and share bikes are responsible for their removal if they are abandoned.
Fines of up to $1320 per item apply if a trolley that is causing an obstruction or presents a safety risk is not removed within three hours of notification.
Trolleys that are not obstructing or posing a safety risk need to be removed within four days of notification.
A Lake Macquarie City Council spokesperson told the Newcastle Herald that the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act had "significantly improved our trolley management efforts, providing an effective framework for action."
The council spokesperson said council rangers are working with Charlestown Square management and retailers to promptly remove abandoned trolleys and confirmed that no fines had been issued.
Coles are aware of the issue and are working with Charlestown Square on a solution.
"Abandoned trolleys are a nuisance to local communities and we are continually working to make this better across all our stores, including regular collections of abandoned trolleys with vehicles on the road frequently," a spokesperson for Coles said.
"We are always reassessing our trolley management and take local feedback into account when deciding what methods to employ at any of our stores, including the use of coin locks and electronic wheel lock systems."
A spokesperson for Woolworths issued a similar statement.
"We understand abandoned trolleys can be a nuisance and that's why we invest millions in collection services and have additional measures in place which feature a locking mechanism to help mitigate their impact in the community," the spokesperson said.
"We work closely with dedicated collection contractors who respond quickly to reports of abandoned trolleys to return them to our stores. They also conduct regular sweeps for abandoned trolleys in the streets surrounding our stores."
Owners of Charlestown Square, GPT Group, did not respond to requests for comment.
