The shit has truly hit the fan in Tasmania with a stoush over a large sign depicting a penguin projectile pooing going all the way to the state’s integrity commission.
The owner of the “Pooseum” – a small museum “dedicated to all things poo” in Richmond north-east of Hobart – has made a formal complaint to the state’s public sector misconduct watchdog.
Karin Koch claims she has been subjected to “bullying and discriminating behaviour” by members of the local Clarence City Council during a years-long disagreement over her business signage.
The sign outside the museum building previously displayed the words “Pooseum” underneath a cartoon penguin bending over and letting out a long horizontal stream of excrement.
The argument had been ongoing since the sign was erected in 2019 without a planning permit and culminated in the council demanding the sign be reconstructed to meet heritage requirements or removed.
Koch has now launched an online petition to save the sign, which has attached more than 1,600 signatures.
The Pooseum – “where talking about poo is not taboo” – contains a large selection of animal dropping displays and informative exhibitions explaining all the practical uses of dung in the wild and in modern society.
In a letter to the Tasmanian integrity commission, Koch alleged the council had “engaged in ongoing bullying and discriminating behaviour to enforce the removal of the sign, because, as a council member told me in a face-to-face meeting, they ‘don’t like it’.”
“According to a letter from the council, the sign has caused the town of Richmond to lose its historic cultural heritage significance and does not contribute positively to the town’s streetscape, an absurd claim,” she wrote.
But the local mayor, Doug Chipman, said the council’s issue with the sign had “absolutely nothing to do” with the offbeat image but rather its size and placement.
“The only reason we don’t like the sign is because it doesn’t comply with the [heritage] scheme – it’s got nothing to do with what’s written on it,” Chipman said.
He said the council had not yet received any communication from the integrity commission. “If it comes to the integrity commission we’re very, very confident that our staff have complied with the correct procedures,” Chipman said.
Koch has been told she must pay $1,100 to lodge a retrospective application for the sign but she said that wouldn’t make a difference.
“I have told the council on several occasions that I will pay the fee if they are willing to approve the DA. However, they – including mayor Doug Chipman – said they won’t approve it, so at this stage, I would simply lose the money if I paid the fee.”
Chipman does not deny that the council would reject the application but said an amended plan would go through.
“Our staff have bent over backwards trying to work with the owner to come up with a compliant sign … it would be guaranteed approval because it complied with a scheme.
“We, as a council, would love to help the poo museum be a successful business. We’ve said that and I just cannot understand why the simple size and orientation of the sign has to be an issue.”
Koch told the integrity commission the council deemed the sign “too large and too modern” which, she claims, was discriminatory as other businesses have larger signs.
For these reasons Koch said she did not feel she should have to tear down and rebuild to the council’s heritage specifications, as this would also be costly for her small business.
Across from the sign is a bronze statue of a dog relieving its bowels, with a placard reading “Pooby-Doo”. The council appears not to have any issue with it.
Guardian Australia understands the sign’s placement is also at issue with heritage guidelines requiring signs be front-on or at a 90-degree angle to the road.
In February, Koch posted a photo to Facebook showing the sign blanked out.
In April, she updated the sign again, with a direct message to the mayor. “More than 1,600 people and signed the petition to keep the Pooseum sign. When are you going to listen,” it now reads.
Chipman said that, although the council would look at the petition, “it doesn’t change the planning scheme”.
“She’s been able to leverage a fair bit of media interest in it because of the nature of the business,” the mayor said.
Koch said she was not fighting the council to increase the museum’s profile.
“I am a very private person who does not like media attention unless it is for a positive reason. I would love to focus solely on my work instead of an unnecessary dispute but I will not allow the council to single me out and bully me,” she said.
The council’s general manager, Ian Nelson, said in a statement the council’s hands were tied from a legal perspective.
“We’re obligated by law to enforce the planning scheme, we can’t pick and choose how and when to do it, and it is there to protect this important historical precinct for future generations,” he said.
The integrity commission told Guardian Australia it would not be making any public comment on Koch’s complaint “unless there is a particular need to do so”.
