The Shark on the Roof

A presenter explains the bizarre story of a large shark sculpture mounted on the roof of a brick house in Headington near Oxford. The joke comes from treating the absurd rooftop shark as a serious planning-law dispute, complete with years of legal conflict and eventual government intervention. It works as a reaction to ridiculous bureaucracy and unexpectedly normal British eccentricity.

This year the residents of New High Street in Headington near Oxford woke up to find there was a new addition to the road. A shark. And of course English planning laws do not allow a shark. At least not without consulting the neighbours first. Not here, thanks, it's outrageous. So the months and years after the shark laid out exactly as you would expect, the council said take it down. The shark said no. It went to court, it took six years to resolve and the shark was eventually take it down when a senior British government official intervened and said no. As far as I can tell, the shark, generally liked by the folks around here, perhaps a bit more than the current owner would like. And there are news stories that show that over the last few decades the shark was sometimes in extremely poor condition. For now, the shark is not protected, not officially. In a few years, who knows.

• @pokupkabitka / 18949 2022-12-06