Hats off to cabaret concept pioneer John Reid

Re A Musical Journey Through Napier City.

As I recall, the Top Hat was bought by my father John Reid who refurbished it and renamed it The Aztec Lounge and Cabaret. He pioneered the licensed cabaret concept jointly with The Ranch House in Auckland.

He was heavily involved in prompting this new licence to fruition. John brought many overseas cabaret acts to Napier like The Peddlers, 4 Jacks and a Jill, Cleo Laine all the New Zealand favourites. He was always bringing in new talent from NZ and overseas.

Catering was undertaken in the Black Orchid downstairs. Then it was sold to Phil Warren to become the Silver Spade.

Jim Reid Australia

Dear oh feral deer

Re ‘It will take courage to control feral deer', Gareth Eyles’ opinion piece calling for control of feral deer is remarkably reminiscent of the hatred and phobia of introduced species of amateur botanist Leonard Cockayne back in the 1930s.

Cockayne’s view that deer were responsible for mountains falling down and that there was no browsing or grazing of forests by millions of moa has long since been refuted by scientists such as Dr Graeme Caughley.

He described the pre-1400 AD period and 1850 to today periods as “closer ecologically” than the intermediate period (1400-1850) due to reintroduction of browsers after the extinction of moa.

Gareth propagates the notion that deer are “at pest proportions” in the conservation estate without any supporting evidence. Yes, there is an increasing feral deer population in some areas, the vast majority on private farmland where many farmers were happy to see a few deer on the back block for a bit of hunting.

Feral deer provide healthy recreation for over 100,000 recreational hunters in New Zealand and a supply of organic, free range, low fat and highly nutritious protein. Annually, commercial heli-hunters export 450 tonnes of venison to Europe. Wild venison is selling in NZ for $60-70 per kilo. The Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, in collaboration with the NZ Deerstalkers Association, donate 18 tonnes of venison to food banks. NZDA branches throughout the country are similarly donating venison to food banks.

We must stop trotting out the baseless narrative of “deer as pests” and optimise the recreational, cultural and social value that this majestic animal can offer all of New Zealand. That is how we best manage game animals.

David Haynes Nelson

Waka Kotahi failures

Driving around New Zealand it is apparent that Waka Kotahi is failing to even maintain existing roads in good condition, let alone make major improvements to our highways.

The highways are now having speed reductions. Locally SH5 speed reduction, SH2 closed for a weekend to do repairs, roads full of pot holes, etc. What is really required is an independent public inquiry into why Waka Kotahi is failing.

Things that need looking into include the level of Government funding, the quality of the engineering advice, their tender process where they are forced to accept the lowest tender, and their tender process. Roading contractors should be given a score for every job . Too many bad quality jobs and they should not be allowed to tender until they can prove themselves.

Lance Simon Napier