Richmond Pooseum sign detracts from historic town, says council

The erection of a sign out the front of a Richmond business has caused a big stink among the local council who have ordered it must come down. The reason may surprise you.

Clarence City Council has told the owner of the Pooseum in Richmond to remove the sign because it causes the town to lose its heritage significance, says owner Karin Koch.

THE sign for a new tourist attraction in historic Richmond will soon come down because the council says it causes the town to lose its heritage significance, says the business operator.

Karin Koch opened the Pooseum science museum at Richmond dedicated entirely to dung last year.

The Pooseum is on a mission to educate visitors about the intriguing world of animal droppings and showcases a range of information panels and interactive displays unveiling faeces facts.

Karin Koch opened the Pooseum in Richmond last year. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Ms Koch said the sign at the front would be on Monday because the Clarence City Council was enforcing its removal due to it not contributing positively to the streetscape of Richmond and that it had caused the town “to lose its historic cultural heritage significance.”

“The sign was put up in May 2018 - I was unaware that I needed council approval as I had been given wrong information,” she said.

“I would have been happy to obtain a permit retroactively and pay the fee, but [heritage advisor] Tony Purse claimed that the sign was “sticking out like a sore thumb” and that it had to go.

“The council’s way of making decisions is especially arbitrary, dubious and hypocritical in the light of their approval of a planning permit application for a large, modern-looking building complex directly opposite the Pooseum (the redeveloped Richmond Maze) while claiming that the museum’s business sign is damaging to Richmond’s heritage value.

“The plans for the new maze were approved by the council in August 2015, but since then the building site has been neglected and become an incredible eyesore for both locals and tourists.”

The council has been contacted for comment.

It is not the first time an addition to a historic building has been made to come down in Tasmania.

The controversial red awnings on the old Savings Bank of Tasmania building in Murray Street, Hobart. Photo: MATT THOMPSON

In 2011, the owners of the former Savings Bank of Tasmania on Murray St installed red awnings on the building without approval.

Widely embraced by the public, the application for retrospective approval won support from Hobart City Council, but was the subject of a drawn-out battle with the Tasmanian Heritage Council.

Awnings on the basement, first and second floors were eventually permitted to stay, but four awnings were removed from the ground level in November 2012.

They sat in storage until six years later, finally getting approval and being reinstalled in 2018.