THE Town of East Fremantle will become the first council in WA to ban shops from giving away plastic bags.

The council this week voted to introduce the ban, which, if approved by the McGowan Government, comes into force in six months time.

Fremantle, Cockburn, Joondalup and Stirling are among the other councils dotted across Perth considering local laws banning single-use plastic bags.

The situation is a result of the McGowan Government’s pre-election policy that individual councils introduce their own local bans.

It means, for example, that by the end of the year supermarkets in Melville can hand out bags out for free but supermarkets in neighbouring East Fremantle and Fremantle will not.

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt, whose previous two attempts to ban the bag in the port town were thwarted by the previous Liberal Government, conceded it was not an ideal scenario.

“It’s not ideal in the longer term but if it’s a step towards a Statewide ban then its worth doing,” he said.

“The danger of waiting for a consensus is that we will not see anything happen. The State Government has a lot of priorities they have committed to and this was not one of them.”

A survey by the WA Local Government Authority found 27 councils were against introducing a local law and 32 supported a Statewide ban.

It’s understood WALGA is investigating the legalities of local laws, especially as there is uncertainty around rights of entry of council staff.

Stirling said if the State Government did not take a proactive position, it would join other councils to introduce local laws, but conceded it was not yet clear how councils could enforce the ban.

Cockburn said it would likely introduce a ban if the State Government decided against a Statewide approach, while Bassendean is considering giving away 1000 reusable bags.

Environment Minister Stephen Dawson this week said the possibility of a Statewide ban, which would bring WA into line with South Australia, ACT and the Northern Territory, was being explored.

“We are keen to hear the community’s views on this issue. However, if local councils want to introduce bans at a local level, I have no problem with that,” he said.