Seasonal Garden Cafe centre of police complaint after oven door, water system taken from shuttered venue
Police have paid another visit to the now shuttered Seasonal Garden Cafe after a fresh report of items being taken without the landlord’s authority.
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An oven door was among items taken from an Adelaide Hills cafe, allegedly without the landlord’s consent, prompting the second police visit to the failed venue in less than a fortnight.
Police attended the Seasonal Garden Cafe on Thursday afternoon after a neighbour reported that Dewisri Bruyn,the boyfriend of the cafe’s former owner, Silvia Hart, was allegedly among people taking fixtures from the Main St venue.
The Advertiser is aware awnings to the deck, a hot water system and the door of an outdoor pizza oven were among items taken from the venue, which closed its doors on Sunday.
The paper has attempted to contact Ms Hart and her partner Dewisri Bruyn for comment about the incident which was reported to police about 6pm. The Advertiser has seen photos of Mr Bruyn next to a loaded trailer outside the venue taken on the day in question.
Police attended the premises after Mr Bruyn had left.
An SA Police spokesman said officers attended the cafe about 6.20pm in relation to someone removing blinds. He said no criminal offences were evident. The landlord had issued Ms Hart a formal termination for the lease and changed locks of the Main Street venue earlier in the day.
The Advertiser is aware Ms Hart had paid for and installed the items that were taken.
But under the terms of her termination notice, Ms Hart is not allowed on the property.
Her lease also stated that she was supposed to give her landlord a weeks’ notice to remove any fixed items. Police were previously called to the cafe on August 26 after a report people had cut down light poles and torn trees and fixtures from a shared garden, again without the landlord’s authority.
The latest incident comes after The Advertiser revealed last week that couples have potentially lost thousands of dollars in wedding deposits following the unexpected closure of the cafe and wedding venue. Some couples only learned of the closure after reading of it on theadvertiser.com.au.
It came six weeks after a company under Ms Hart’s control – and which she had denied was linked to the fortunes of the Hahndorf cafe – was placed in liquidation over her failure to pay a $55,000 fruit and vegetable hill. Liquidators KPMG have advised that an initial report into the company’s affairs would not be ready until next month.