Donkey statue to return to Le Friquet on permanent display

The Development & Planning Authority went one step further than requested and, while the latest application was only to put the statue on display for three months, the planners said it can stay on display permanently.

Geoff and Jennie Dorey were behind getting the 12ft-high bronze donkey made.

Mr Dorey was surprised but pleased with the latest news.

‘We are very pleased with the co-operation of the Development & Planning Authority,’ he said.

‘We hope the donkey will be back on display as soon as the crane hire is available.’

The Doreys have been campaigning to have the donkey put on display around St Peter Port, but have struggled. Then last year they put it up at the Friquet Garden Centre, but had to remove it in January because they did not have permission for it to be in place permanently.

Last month the Doreys applied to put the donkey on display for three months, because the area in which it is currently stored is needed for Christmas stock.

But the planners said they could see no reason for the permission to be temporary.

‘In the location proposed within the curtilage of the garden centre, the statue would have no significant impact on wider visual amenity and is acceptable in design terms,’ the approval notice states.

‘There is no conflict with any policy of the Island Development Plan.

‘The proposed development would not affect neighbour amenity or traffic.

‘Although the application relates to the temporary display of the statue, in the light of the above assessment there is no planning justification to limit the duration of any permission granted.’

There were no objections to the application.

Mr and Mrs Dorey originally wanted to have the statue displayed at the harbour, but permission was refused in 2015. The couple pushed ahead and used £100,000 of their own money to have it cast.