Melbs’ Iconic ‘Nylex Clock’ Silos To Disappear If Developers Get Their Way

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Published

March 3, 2016

If property developers get their way, Paul Kelly might have to adjust his lyrics.

The developers who own the property that includes the absolutely iconic Nylex Clock that sits atop wheat silos in the Melbourne suburb of Cremorne have gone public with their plans for the future of the sign, and it’s a little perturbing.

The owners, property group Caydon, feature in what essentially amounts to a pro-development puff piece in the Herald Sun today, where the economic benefits of their plans are spruiked with great enthusiasm.

But buried away in the article are the finer details of the planned redevelopment, and the implications for the city’s heritage are huge.

In short, the plans call for the barley silos that the clock sits atop to be completely demolished, with a 20-storey building containing some 1,000 apartments to be erected in its place. The Nylex Clock, immortalised in the Paul Kelly track “Leaps & Bounds” would become the feature attraction of a rooftop bar that overlooks the South Yarra area.

Proposed 360degree view #RooftopBar honouring the famous #Nylex clock and sign in #Melbourne https://t.co/RIcG1zpdyg pic.twitter.com/2fFi5biTgm

— cody phelan (@CodyPhelan) March 2, 2016

The sign itself is heritage listed, and as such any development on the site must include the preservation of the sign in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Caydon has long trumpeted their plans to restore the clock and switch it back on, with the sign sitting dormant atop the silos ever since the Nylex company went into administration – save for a few rare occasions involving groups of daredevil legends.

But the truth of the matter, despite what today’s Herald piece might tell you, is that plans aren’t exactly progressing smoothly for the group. Caydon bought the property back in 2014 for $38million, and immediately lodged plans for a whole-site redevelopment that would cost somewhere in the vicinity of $1billion. Both Yarra Council and Heritage Victoria refused to grant planning permission to the group, citing the significant cultural heritage that the industrial buildings carry.

The original plans called for a sweeping, entire site tear-down that would place residential apartments, office buildings, retail spaces, restaurants, and a micro-brewery into the site, in place of the existing industrial aesthetic.

Nylex clock to be centrepiece of #Melbourne #development https://t.co/spn2sPjTBb pic.twitter.com/gdCQYfrzSL

— Recon Daily (@ReconDaily) November 26, 2015

Heritage Victoria blocked the plans in January, noting that the development would have “negative impacts on some significant views to the individually heritage listed Nylex Clock,” and that it would have “very little positive heritage outcomes.”

Meanwhile the National Trust also weighed in on the issues, stating firmly that their position was “no good reason why the silos should not be incorporated into the development.“

The current site, as it stands, is in disrepair and in significant need of an upgrade. Caydon has run into multiple issues concerning the security of the site, with vandals, thrillseekers, and the occasional squatter causing headaches. Other buildings in the site are also known to contain asbestos.

However, the silos themselves are clearly of great historical worth to the city of Melbourne, and in particular to the Richmond area. They stand as a physical link between modern, gentrified Richmond, and its industrial, working-class past. The clock and the silos go hand-in-hand, and it’s hard to think of one existing without the other.

There’s absolutely no question that the clock needs to be operational once again – an icon of that magnitude deserves life and care, not the current indignity of dormant rotting. But is resurrecting an old friend worth the loss of its other half? Or would restoring the clock atop a shiny new building be nothing more than a sad memorial to lost history?

As with most things, we’ll just defer to Paul Kelly.