They said lost trolleys and having the Rotorua Lakes Council return their trolleys was costing thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
Shopping trolleys at Rotorua’s Kmart will now cost you a deposit of 50c to use. Photo \/ Kelly Makiha<\/p>\n
Shoppers who did not have 50c coins on them were able to buy them at the checkouts.<\/p>\n
Smaller wheeled baskets are still available without paying a bond.<\/p>\n
The Rotorua Daily Post visited Kmart<\/a> and spoke to shoppers about how they felt about the new initiative.<\/p>\n Most said they did not mind, some saying they had travelled overseas, where it was a common practice.<\/p>\n Rotorua shopper Vikki Wharerau said it was a sad state of affairs that people were stealing trolleys.<\/p>\n She said the new practice at Kmart did not bother her too much and she had seen it in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t mind, but just having the 50 cents is a bit hit and miss.\u201d<\/p>\n Kmart\u2019s new trolley system was the subject of a post on a Rotorua social media page for mothers. <\/p>\n Most of the commenters said it was about time and was a good way to stop people from leaving trolleys all over the central city.<\/p>\n \u201cKmart has to pay a considerable amount of money when trolleys are found dumped. So let\u2019s all stop moaning about paying 50 cents to use them. Unfortunately, many have ruined it for others,\u201d one wrote.<\/p>\n Another was less impressed, saying: \u201cI\u2019m keen to protest this lol. I only use a trolley for my kids … What has this world come to where u [sic] have to pay to use a trolley to fill it up to BUY their stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n The new system comes after the Rotorua Lakes Council adopted new bylaws<\/a> in August aimed at improving tidiness and safety in the city centre.<\/p>\n Under the new waste bylaw, the council will collect abandoned trollies, with retailers given 24 hours to recover their property or face storage and delivery fees.<\/p>\n Rotorua ratepayers have shouldered bills as high as $5000 to remove as many as 260 abandoned shopping trolleys<\/a> a month from inner-city streets.<\/p>\n The annual cost to enforce the new bylaw was estimated at $51,500. Some of this could be recovered through the fees.<\/p>\nKmart Rotorua. Photo \/ Andrew Warner.<\/p>\n
Discarded trolleys in Rotorua. Photos \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n