Plans for large gnome statue on Ilkeston traffic island take a diminutive step forward

Gnome Island in Nottingham Road, Ilkeston. From Eddie Bisknell.

Plans to install a large gnome statue on a “culturally significant” ornament-adorned roundabout in a Derbyshire town have taken a step forward.

In the midst of a near five-hour Erewash Borough Council meeting filled with debates about free parking, rewilding, a new M1 junction and asylum seeker accommodation, sat a discussion about Ilkeston’s beloved ‘Gnome Island’.

The Nottingham Road, Park Drive and Morrisons junction is marked by a roundabout home to a number of gnomes, an impromptu community quirk which started more than a decade ago and continues to this day.

Councillors were told that the roundabout’s vertically-challenged pottery residents are often destroyed or stolen but are then promptly replaced by a fresh flurry of former garden-dwelling fixtures.

The community importance of the feature saw it formally registered as a location of cultural significance by the borough council in 2015.

As such, Councillor Dan Price (Ref), brought a motion calling for the council to support a community fundraising campaign for the creation of a permanent statue of ‘Mr and Mrs Gnome’.

He dubbed Gnome Island an “institution”, created through the “humour and community spirit” of residents.

Cllr Price said the statue would not require “vast sums of money” but would serve to honour the “prestigious piece of Erewash culture” that makes the borough “unique”.

Councillor Harrison Broadhurst (Lab) said that because the roundabout is owned and managed by Derbyshire County Council, the borough could not act without its full cooperation and permission.

He said the roundabout initiative belongs to the community and should be led by residents, without political interference, saying the authority should support a scheme brought by the public.

But he added the authority cannot commit funding when it has no permission to use it for its intended purpose.

Councillor James Dawson, Labour leader of the council, said the gnome initiative is believed to have been linked to the Morrisons supermarket development over a decade ago and was something “people can laugh about and enjoy”, but needed county council support for a statue.

Meanwhile, Councillor Wayne Major, Conservative opposition leader, said: “It is a wonderful thing. It puts our town on the map alongside the hole in the wall next to Natwest.

“Sometimes we need to leave things alone and not institutionalise things.

“I know what my children would say and they would say that the council getting involved would make it not cool. I want it to remain cool.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the county council if it would support plans.

In response, council leader Councillor Alan Graves (Ref) said: “Gnome Island is a much-loved local landmark and the county council is happy to see Erewash Borough Council back the community’s efforts to give it a permanent statue.

“As with any structure on public land it would need to meet the normal safety, planning and maintenance requirements, but we are happy to collaborate and work with the borough and residents on the options for this project.”