Derek the Goose memorial at risk as objectors say it's in the wrong place

WATCHET could lose a memorial sculpture to one of its best-loved characters, Derek the Goose, if objections against retrospective planning permission are successful.

Watchet Town Council has objected to the gleaming metal artwork on the Esplanade, claiming that it was out of keeping and in the wrong place.

A similar protest to the siting of the sculpture in the conservation area has been made by the committee of the town’s Market House Museum. A protest against granting planning permission by Watchet Conservation Society was withdrawn earlier this week.

After the sculpture was unveiled in October last year an anonymous resident pointed out that full planning permission had not been applied for, and an enforcement notice was threatened. Now Somerset West and Taunton Council planning committee will consider the retrospective application at a future meeting.

Over £1,000 was raised from admirers all over the world to commemorate Derek, a female goose, which met a mysterious and violent death on the town slipway in October 2021. After that, Watchet resident Carron Clark has run a Derek the Goose website and led the campaign to provide a permanent memorial.

She said this week: “We have applied for planning permission for the statue and I am asking everyone who backed the project to contact the council planning department and show their support”. Local artist Chris Philling created the sculpture in memory of Derek, who lived in Watchet Marina for ten years and was fed and looked after by boat-owners, residents and visitors. The intricate metalwork creation, lit at night by solar-powered lights, was placed inside the Esplanade railings overlooking the slipway.

In a statement to planners, Watchet Town Council said it believed that as the sculpture had been sited within a conservation area which was subject to stringent requirements, it was in the wrong location.

“As a result, the Town Council would like to see it re-sited elsewhere around the harbour-side and is probably best suited to a site on the eastern quayside. Therefore, the council recommends refusal of this retrospective application.”

The statement added: “The council regrets that planning permission was not sought before proceeding to put the statue in place, which would have enabled consultation within the community. The reason for this recommendation is that the installation breaches the Local Plan in multiple respects.”

The council claim that the sculpture was not compatible with the preservation and enhancement of the architectural and historic character and appearance of a conservation area and was out of scale with the mass and height of nearby features.

“The preserved sea anchor recovered mine and statues of the Ancient Mariner and Yankee Jack are substantial landscape features whereas the proposal is flimsy and see-through in places.”

“The proposed statue is made of stainless steel - material completely absent in the surrounding area. Stainless steel is much used in the new East Quay building which suggests again that the proposal would be better sited at the other end of the Esplanade from where it is proposed.”