Fight over ‘Pooseum’ sign in Tasmania finally comes to an end

A museum in a small Australian village has won a two-year battle to keep its poo-inspired sign, declaring that the ‘nightmare’ is now over.

A quirky Tasmanian museum “dedicated to all things poo” has won a long battle to keep its unique signs up.

The Pooseum has been a tourist drawcard in the historical village of Richmond, northeast of Hobart, for its unique education on animal defecation.

But a battle with the local council over signage threatened to overshadow the delivery of science in all its scatological splendour.

On Monday, a two-year fight over the signs — which include an image of a penguin sporting a long string of poo — finally came to an end.

A council officer had recommended an application for retrospective approval of the signage be rejected, after it was erected without a required planning permit in 2019.

However, a majority of City of Clarence councillors rejected the recommendation on Monday night.

Karin Koch says she is glad the battle is over. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Pooseum director Karin Koch was happy at the decision, declaring “the nightmare is over”.

“I am very relieved, as you can imagine,” she said.

The council report argued the signage was at odds with the heritage of the area and increased “visual clutter”.

The sign at the centre of the battle.

It also said it was not the subject matter of the sign, but its size, angle and location that required approval.

A Pooby Doo statue at the museum. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

But for Ms Koch, the issues over the signs never made sense.

Now the issue has resolved, she can get back to her work at the Pooseum — understood to be the only one of its kind in the world — where “talking about poo is not taboo”.

“I want to say a big and heartfelt thank you to the many people who encouraged me to keep fighting,” she said.