A spate of recent ram-raids in Kāpiti has left business owners on edge, with some saying their pleas for help have gone unheard by authorities.
Paekākāriki Village Grocery Store is the latest to be targeted.
Bhavesh Morar's family has owned the store for more than three decades, but he has been increasingly worried about security.
Now his fears have come to a head - the store was ram-raided in the early hours of yesterday morning, with the thieves causing about $10,000 worth of damage.
"There's damage to the grill door, glass panel, they broke all our shelving for our chocolates," he said.
"And the glass counter's been smashed up as well, so we've had to tape it up."
Morar said the family had previously applied for a fog-cannon as part of the government's measures against ram-raids, but were deemed to be in at low-risk.
"We're always trying to be proactive here and trying to find ways to eliminate these sorts of risks, so that was one of the things that we did look at," he said.
"It kind of did annoy me because we pay our taxes, we're good people, law-abiding people, and for the government to push us aside like this and ignore us, it really sucks."
Morar said he was now asking local councillors to help get steel bollards in front of the store.
A composite image showing the damage a ram-raid did to the Paekākāriki Village Grocery Store and the car was that was used to do it. Photo: Supplied / Bhavesh Morar
Over in Paraparaumu, Winecraft alcohol shop was rammed at about 7am just over a week ago.
Staff member Bob Dunkerley said the culprits seem to have been frightened off by witnesses, without getting through the metal grate behind the glass window.
While nothing was taken, most of the store's glass frontage was shattered.
The community had since written messages of support on the wooden boards outside the store.
"It's all supportive, there's absolutely no negative messages there at all, apart from messages to the people who did it," he said.
"People are apologising to me, 'Oh sorry about that, that shouldn't happen in this community'."
While the response from the community has been supportive, owner Michelle Nottage said she was going in circles with police, and many people she had spoken to had not heard about the government's support fund.
"We're apparently not allowed to self-apply, so we have to actually be identified as a business who can access this, but there's nobody coming to us," she said.
"There's a brick wall, so it's adding another layer of stress to the whole situation."
Nottage said she had then been referred to the Ministry of Justice and was now waiting to hear back.
Sean Mallon from Kāpiti Coast District Council said the council was working with some of the businesses that had been affected, but said it was not as simple as bolting bollards into the pavement.
The council had to consider how any bollards would impact utility lines, like water and power, which might be running underneath, he said.
"Obviously, we also need to be aware of other users in that space, so pedestrians, making sure there's not going to be an impact in terms of traffic," he said.
"Working with those businesses to find out what works best for them is where we are at the moment."
Mallon said worried business owners should see what protection they could add to their own properties, and talk to the council once they had done that.
