For the past four years, three coffee van vendors have braved 5am starts at Mandogalup Fire Station to bring customers their morning cuppa but the trio is there no more due to a new booking system. The station is next to Anketell Road and by Perth suburban standards is practically in the middle of nowhere. When Hugs With Mugs owner Corine Hubbard and her partner Dan Anderson-McKelvie first started serving coffee there, they sold about only three coffees and made $16.
But passing drivers soon knew that Hugs With Mugs, Barista on Wheels and Mr Edz Coffee would be there in the mornings for their coffee fix. Mr Anderson-McKelvie said the trio had built a close relationship and supported each other’s businesses over the years. This was why Mr Anderson-McKelvie was shocked when he found another coffee van in his usual spot last month.
He was even more shocked when told to move on by the City of Kwinana due to a booking system he claims the businesses were not adequately consulted about. The caffeine-giving trio previously had reached a gentleman’s agreement in which one van would park in the early hours, followed by the other and so on. Under the city’s new system, vendors can book timeslots of up to four hours between 5am to noon.
“I’ve been there coming up four years, and it’s always been first in, best dressed,” Mr Anderson-McKelvie said. “We got an email on June 5, which is my first knowledge of it, saying that there’s a booking system taking place and you hav.
