The Pleasant Hill coffee van is proving popular with locals

The Pleasant Hill Coffee Van has been operating out of the gardens for about a month and owner Virginia Murnane said there had been a lovely response from the community.

"It has been really great," she said.

"A lot in the community and those that live around here are coming to the gardens.

"It has become a really nice meeting space for people in East Warrnambool.

"There's lots of parents coming and they can get a coffee and their kids can run around the garden.

"It has become a meeting space for people."

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Ms Murnane said the van's name was the original name for the Fletcher Jones garden.

"It's lovely to keep that going," she said.

She previously worked at a different coffee van at Fletcher Jones which didn't operate in the gardens last year.

"I kept running into people and they were saying we need another van in the garden," she said.

"In lockdown I had a bit of a rethink on what I wanted to do."

Ms Murnane said there had been a steady stream of customers since the van opened.

"It has been pretty consistent," she said.

"Lots of people are coming through.

"It's really nice to get a coffee and look around the gardens.

"People can also check out the antique market and there's art displays as well."

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Born in Warrnambool, Ms Murnane was a barista in North Melbourne before moving her young family back to the south-west.

"We had kids and wanted to get out of the city," she said. "The same reasons that a lot of people have moved here."

Along with coffee, Ms Murnane also serves toasted sandwiches, pastries from Jane Dough and yo-yo biscuits from a woman in Koroit. The van is open from 9am to 2pm, Monday to Saturday.

The Fletcher Jones retail outlet closed in 2011 and at the height of its power in the 1970s more than 1300 workers clocked in at the site in Warrnambool.

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