The Queen Victoria Market Has Been Granted National Heritage Listing

One of the grand dames of Melbourne's CBD, the Queen Victoria Market has finally received the historic recognition it deserves, being added to the National Heritage List over the weekend.

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg made the announcement on Sunday, making the Queen Victoria Market Australia's 114th national heritage listed site. It joins the likes of the MCG, Bondi Beach and the Australian War Memorial. The historic building is located on top of Melbourne's first offical cemetery, which is estimated to be made up of over 6500 burial sites spread underneath the market's sheds, stores and carpark.

While it's great news for the future of the famed market, it could potentially throw a spanner in the works of Melbourne City Council's planned multi-million dollar revamp of the site.The council was already forced to review its original plans earlier this year after Heritage Victoria voiced concerns over the proposed development beneath the market's 140-year-old sheds.

Now, these new protections mean that any plans "likely to have a significant impact" on the site's heritage would need to be assessed by the federal environment department before getting the green light.

But it seems the council isn't concerned about any negative impact on its planned revamp, with Lord Mayor Sally Capp telling The Age, "the heritage listing and renewal can exist side-by-side and both are incredibly important". She's hoping that working in conjunction with the market's new heritage status will help more locals to accept the development.

The listing comes less than a week after the Queen Victoria Market was named among the 'Magnificent Seven' global alliance of food markets, alongside London's Borough Market, La Boqueria in Barcelona, Markthalle Neun in Berlin, Budapest's Central Market Hall, Sydney Fish Market, and Pike Place Market in Seattle.