The shark first appeared on 9 August 1986, having been commissioned by the house's owner Bill Heine, a local radio presenter.

[7] For the occasion of the shark's 21st anniversary in August 2007, it was renovated by the sculptor[1] following earlier complaints about the condition of the sculpture and the house.

[9] On 26 August 2016, Heine's son Magnus Hanson-Heine bought the house in order to preserve the shark.

[14] Eventually, the matter was taken to the central government, where Tony Baldry, a minister in the Department of the Environment, who assessed the case on planning grounds, ruled in 1992 that the shark would be allowed to remain as it did not result in harm to the visual amenity.

[1][15] Michael Heseltine's planning inspector, Peter MacDonald, investigated and ultimately came out in favour of keeping the sculpture, with an official ruling that has gained legendary status among town planners for its defence of art: Bill Heine wrote a short book about the shark, which was published in 2011.