Neil Batterly arrived at Village Cafe at 6 am one morning to find the window had been smashed in. Photo: Neil Batterly.
Village Cafe opened in April this year and has fast become a local favourite for nearby residents. The cafe is among many coffee shops revitalising suburban shopping centres by becoming a hub for the community to gather.
On the morning of Thursday 6 July, Neil Batterly arrived at his Waramanga business Village Cafe and Dining to discover that the shop had been vandalised overnight.
“I turned up at 6 am to see that one of our big beautiful windows had been smashed in,” he told Region.
“It was so disappointing.”
Mr Batterly says that CCTV footage shows two men turned up around 1 am and damaged the shop window with “what looked like hammers”, before high-fiving each other and leaving. It’s unclear whether they were trying to enter the shop, or simply cause damage.
He described the event as “deliberate, malicious vandalism”.
Neil Batterley opened Village in early April. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Village cafe was unable to operate that morning while police investigated the scene and the shop was cleared of broken glass. The large shop window has now been boarded up while they wait for replacement glass. While they’re grateful nothing was stolen, it’s still an inconvenience with run-on costs.
“I had casual staff members who lost a day’s wage because we weren’t able to open that morning. Insurance will cover the window, but there’s still a hefty excess,” Mr Batterly explained.
The cafe was able to open for takeaway coffees and limited menu items in the afternoon, but it was a loss for the day in an industry that already runs on tight margins.
The boarded-up window gives the impression that the shop is closed, so the team has also dedicated extra time to post on social media that they are still open for business as usual. Neil says all these extra tasks take time, and it’s added a lot of stress.
Neil Batterly is frustrated that the boarded-up window gives the appearance of a closed shop. Photo: Neil Batterly.
While the vandalism was disappointing, a positive side effect has been the outpouring of community support from locals. Mr Batterly says a couple of regular customers who are tradies offered to help board up the window on the morning of the incident, and they’ve had lots of people make an effort to stop by and purchase a coffee to support the business.
“The community has really rallied behind us and their support has been amazing. We really appreciate it.”
When asked about the incident an ACT Policing Spokesperson said:
“ACT Policing has identified suspects for several instances of property damage overnight on Wednesday 5 into Thursday 6 July 2023, and police expect to lay charges soon.”
And in regards to overall crime rates, and ways in which business owners can protect their property they said:
“Although the ACT has some of the lowest property crime rates in Australia, for several years, ACT Policing and the ACT Government has run the Outsmart The Offender crime reduction campaign, with the support of ACT Neighbourhood Watch and Crime Stoppers ACT, which includes specific advice for business operators.”
Find out more information about the Outsmart The Offender crime reduction campaign here.
Village Cafe and Dining is located at Waramanga Shops, 15 Waramanga Place. They are open seven days a week from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays, and 7 am to 4 pm on weekends. Follow Village on Instagram or Facebook.
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