By NOEL MURPHY
ONE of Geelong’s most prominent and dangerous eyesores might soon complete years in limbo.
The abandoned cement works silos in McCurdy Rd, Herne Hill, is the subject of sale talks between site owner VicTrack and Adelaide Brighton, which owns the silos and associated buildings.
VicTrack told the Independent it had a long-standing commercial lease with Adelaide Brighton, which previously operated the cement works.
“Although the cement works are no longer in operation, all infrastructure on the land is owned and maintained by the lessee,” a VicTrack spokesperson said.
“VicTrack and Adelaide Brighton have been negotiating the sale of the site over the past few months and we’re hopeful of reaching agreement in the coming weeks.”
An Adelaide Brighton spokesperson said development plans for the silos were “undecided at this time”.
Plans to convert the silos to apartments fell by the wayside years ago.
But nearby residents, tired of rubbish, graffiti and the derelict appearance of the decommissioned silos, are wary of what might eventually replace them.
“We think better the devil you know,” said an Autumn St resident, who declined to be identified.
“When the third chimney at the old cement works came down our house shook. While the silos are standing they can’t do any damage to our house.
“They’re definitely an eyesore but the thing is that if they do something else with it what will they do?
“Right now it’s not a nightclub or a supermarket or a doctors’ surgery, it doesn’t have loads of people coming and going and the neighbourhood’s generally quiet.”
Surrounded by cyclone fencing and barbed wire, the site is littered with plastic, twisted metal, rubbish, weeds, boxthorns and gnarled trees. Shattered concrete, rusted steel rods, metal frames and bare conveyor structures run between the silos.
The site is linked to a stalled $300 million Fyansford Green housing precinct, which ICD Property recently bought for revival next year.
The site’s initial development proponent, Tony Moltoni, toyed with converting the silos to apartments and studied similar projects in the US but failed to proceed with any redevelopment.
