Once suggested, it seemed an obvious idea. Nimmitabel, located on a stretch of road shared by the Snowy Mountains and Monaro highways about two hours from Canberra, was trying to reinvent itself as a tourist haunt. Over the decades it had fallen victim to the near-death of the timber industry, a downturn in the premier wool trade, a long-term drought and the closure of its train line.
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Already the south-east NSW town boasted a famous bakery supplemented by a life-sized elephant sculpture. The idea of buying a giant bell - a Nimmity Bell, to put it plainly - was floated at a 2015 meeting of particularly active residents keen to see the former five-pub village bustling once again.
Within just three months 800 families donated $60,000 to the cause championed by a community of about 300 people. NSW deputy premier John Barilaro's family chipped in $1000 and the state government handed over $10,000. By October, the 1920-built, 1.8 tonne bronze bell was shipped from its New York home to Nimmitabel and unveiled from the back of a truck at the inaugural Nimmity Bell Festival, where two church bells, the school bell and the police bell rung in unison with the town's newest and most anticipated addition.
It seemed like everything was going to plan. Then, in 2016, the Lions Club of Nimmitabel submitted an application to install the bell on a stone plinth on a street adjacent to the main drag.
It wanted to ring the Nimmity Bell 12 times at noon every day. Once built, it would stand a proud 4.5 metres high. Tourists would stop to ring the bell, the club reasoned. But only three of 25 submissions received in response to the development application were in support of the proposal.
The remaining 22 were in support of the installation of the bell but not the location. "Noise, negative impact on heritage values, and adverse impact on traffic were the most common issues raised," a council agenda from the time said, recommending the development's refusal.
The council further noted the bell had no historical significance to the town - instead, it "is simply a play on words of the town’s [name] or, at best, vaguely symbolic in the minds of the proponents".
The bell was further likened to the huge elephant in the grounds of the Nimmitabel Bakery, shipped direct from Thailand: "... [the bell] would be at risk of being seen as a distraction that had little relevance to Nimmitabel, in much the same way as does the elephant adjacent to the bakery," a bemused council staffer wrote.
One objector complained the bell was already irritating them. Locals, tourists and drunks from the Federal Hotel couldn't help hitting it, the person said, even after the clanger was removed.
"It woke us up at all hours of the night ... No matter who it was bashing the bell with no clanger in it, people used bricks, rocks, walking sticks, umbrellas to make the thing sound a tune, all day and night."
The bell was placed in the grounds of the historic Geldmacher House then, following objections, shifted to the showgrounds. The development application was refused. Undeterred, the Lions Club submitted a second application in 2017, this time with a bit more detail.
This time, 37 people responded to the proposal, 18 in support and 19 against.
" ... of the 18 submissions in support of the proposal, 13 letters of support were provided directly by the applicant to accompany the review documentation they submitted. A petition containing slightly over 100 signatures in support of the proposal was also submitted," an agenda from the time said.
But the bell was again refused. The first reason for refusal put forward by the Snowy Monaro Regional Council was that "the bell is dividing the community".
"The Nimmity Bell would be an important social gathering point on civic and festive occasions as
well as serving informally as a meeting place ... however, there is a possibility that the erection of the bell at this location will have a divisive effect within the small community," the 2017 agenda said.
It was not the first time the community of Nimmitabel struggled to make a decision. Based on an Aboriginal word for "the dividing of the waters", settlers variously named the town Nimmytabell, Nimmitabool, Nimmittybel, Nimitybelle, Nimity Bell, Nimithybale, Nymytable, Nimmittabil, Nimitabille, Nimithy Bell and Nimaty-Bell. Three variations were clocked in 1848 alone. By 1858 it had settled on Nimmitabel, but not before trying Nimmitybelle on for size in 1862.
The fight for the Nimmity Bell - and therefore Nimmitabel itself - is not over. The Lions Club hopes to submit its third Nimmity Bell development application to the Snowy Monaro Regional Council next month, this time proposing the bell be hosted in the grounds of the Geldmacher Cottage.
For now, it sits behind a locked gate in a yard between the mustard and teal Federal Hotel and the general store. It continues to attract onlookers; unfortunately, someone whacked it with an axe at the recent Steampunk At Altitude festival.
Lions Club president John Harrington said at this point most residents just wanted the thing installed.
“People are really looking forward to it," he said.
