{"id":561660,"date":"2026-05-02T02:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/561660\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T02:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:10:23","slug":"st-austell-locals-demand-removal-of-80k-kebab-statue-where-pigeons-are-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/561660\/","title":{"rendered":"St Austell locals demand removal of ‘\u00a380K kebab’ statue – where pigeons are living"},"content":{"rendered":"

Locals have relentlessly mocked the 11.5m high ‘eyesore’<\/p>\n

Tom Bevan SWNS and Abigail Neep South West Regional News Reporter<\/p>\n

20:23, 30 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The structure called ‘Earth Goddess’ was created by artist Sandy Brown to celebrate the heritage of China clay in St Austell, Cornwall. (Image: SWNS)<\/p>\n

Locals are demanding the removal of the world’s tallest ceramic statue dubbed the ’80k kebab’ – claiming there are pigeons nesting in it.<\/p>\n

The structure called ‘Earth Goddess’ was created by artist Sandy Brown to celebrate the heritage of China clay in St Austell<\/a>, Cornwall.<\/p>\n

It was unveiled in 2022 but locals have relentlessly mocked the 11.5m high ‘eyesore’ – and even nicknamed it ‘The Pork Sword’.<\/p>\n

Priced at \u00a380,000 the statue aimed to put the town ‘on the map’ after three years of construction.<\/p>\n

But a new survey of 500 local people revealed 90 percent want it removed – with the local MP saying birds have made it their home.<\/p>\n

Local business owners said people regularly complain about the statue – and they want it moved.<\/p>\n

Chair of the Town Team and caf\u00e9 owner Jake Richards told the BBC<\/a> most people think it is “out of place where it is”.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Locals are demanding the removal of the world’s tallest ceramic statue dubbed the ’80k kebab’ – claiming there are pigeons nesting in it. (Image: SWNS)<\/p>\n

He told the BBC: “For some, the artwork has become a symbol of frustration around spending priorities, regeneration efforts, and the perceived lack of meaningful public consultation in decision-making processes.”<\/p>\n

The survey did find a small number of people who felt positively about it.<\/p>\n

The group behind the sculpture’s original installation does not exist anymore.<\/p>\n

Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay<\/a> Noah Law told the BBC: ”The fact is it’s not much loved by the town.<\/p>\n

“There are pigeons nesting in it and there isn’t actually a proper management plan for it, so whether you’re a lover of this kind of art or not there needs to be some proper maintenance and proper place for it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Locals have relentlessly mocked the 11.5m high ‘eyesore’ Tom Bevan SWNS and Abigail Neep South West Regional News…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,243,1120,96,2053,117008,229,156322,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-561660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-bbc","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-labour-party","tag-newquay","tag-politics","tag-st-austell","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}