The Stockwell community has been blindsided by Viterra's decision to demolish the town's silos in late May despite already receiving the green light to proceed with a silo-art project more than 12 months ago.
The silos have been non-operational for five years and the Stockwell Silo Arts project committee were provided provisional approval from Viterra last year to get the project up and running.
The committee were in the thick of fundraising for the project but about three weeks ago, the group were tipped-off about the potential demolishment.
Stockwell resident Gail Kirby helped lead the project and contacted Viterra and The Barossa Council for confirmation and was told the site would be demolished because of safety concerns.
"We contacted the Council earlier last year about the silo art project, they knew we were working on it but we were not told about it being demolished," she said.
"Council have the ability to takeover the silos to allow the mural but it was handballed within the Council to consider participating in a licence agreement so it could go ahead."
According to Ms Kirby, the Council believed the "risk factor" was too high but a recent council meeting revealed the silo site could be re-zoned as residential land.
The Barossa Council released its draft Growth and Infrastructure Investment Strategy, which identified potential growth options for the Barossa's townships, which included the Stockwell site as a potential area.
A Viterra spokesperson said it was prepared to gift the silos to The Barossa Council, so the mural could go ahead.
"Due to the local interest in a silo art project at the site, we first approached Council to understand if there was any interest in Viterra gifting them the silos," they said.
"We have plans to demolish the silos and surrounding infrastructure in late May/June, as we have identified the site poses a potential safety risk.
"But, we acknowledge the role the Stockwell silos have played in the evolution of the grain industry."
A Barossa Council spokesperson said the silo demolition was a commercial decision made by Viterra and did not require any form of Council approval or community consultation.
"As the silos are not core Council infrastructure and the Stockwell silos are not heritage listed, there is no Council interest in acquiring them and inheriting the costs of restoring and maintaining them," they said.
Regarding the future use of the site under the draft Growth Strategy, the spokesperson said the site was located within the township and together with adjacent land, represented an opportunity for future development.
"The growth strategy recommends the preparation of a structure plan to identify key infrastructure needs, development opportunities and constraints," they said.
"In 2023 community members did express an interest in silo art utilising the Stockwell silos, which were not progressed."
The Stockwell silos were built in two stages first starting in 1963 before finishing in 1965, and a further four cells were built in 1970.
Multiple generations describe the silos as the life of the town, according to Stockwell's History Committee member Matthew Holding.
"The silos are central to the farming culture of the area and Stockwell grew around its heritage steam-powered grain mill. It has a different story to much of the wine growing Barossa region. It has an agricultural heritage," he said.
"A lot of people were looking forward to a positive project in the area and it will be lost forever with one quick wrecking ball."
Mr Holding was concerned rural people were left out of development conversations which impacted their community.
"Preserving the silos and other historical features gives meaning to a town and a sense of identity to those here now and in the future," he said.
He believed councils and large corporate companies had a responsibility to the communities they exist within.
"They have an obligation to consult and include those communities above and beyond the legal requirements," he said.
With the area's wheat-growing and flour milling history slowly disappearing, Mr Holding believed Stockwell would shift from a vibrant historical past to a suburb of the greater Barossa.
"The town is so much more than just a housing problem solution. The whole appeal of living in such a place diminishes if its history and heritage is not retained for future generations," he said.
Stockwell resident Sherry Jaeger hoped the community's opportunity to be part of the silo mural tours which have been providing other SA towns with much-needed tourism, was not completely lost.
She has lived in the area for 44 years and was also concerned big decisions were made without community consultation.
"It is supposed to be a low density housing area and if the land is to be used for housing instead of a mural, it does not make sense," she said.
"The project was going to provide our town with some identity, the local pub has reopened and it was going to bring more people into the town.
"Stockwell had the only opportunity in the Barossa Valley to have silo art because it is the last standing silos in the area."
Vanessa Binks
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
