zoo

The DomPost reports that Eva Dixon’s Cafe is being given the old heave-ho from Wellington Zoo. The contract for the running of the Zoo’s cafe came up last October, and, as co-owner John Heald said…

We were under the impression it wouldn’t have been a problem and were waiting for the paperwork to come through …

But no! The Zoo weighed up their options, and have decided to go with faceless, characterless corporate catering outfit Spotless.

Says Karen Fifield, chief executive of the Zoo…

We wanted to make a commercial decision which was going to result in value for the zoo.

Given that Eva’s is ‘predominantly family-run and locally owned’, and Spotless, well, aren’t (and hardly have a, err, ‘spotless’ reputation with regards to treating their staff well), it might be argued that the Zoo is flying in the face of one of their own stated goals, which is to “generate lasting community support by raising the profile of the Zoo and making the Zoo relevant to all Wellingtonians.” (Admittedly, it does fulfill their goal of increasing “…financial sustainability by increasing revenue…”).

Whatever the case, if you’d like to vent your opinion on this particular issue to someone who has some sway in the Zoo’s affairs, drop Celia Wade-Brown a line – she’s the WCC Councillor in charge of the Zoo Trust.