Smell of Vegemite factory given special heritage recognition by Melbourne council

theguardian.com:

The distinctive smell of Vegemite wafting from a Melbourne factory has been declared of “significant” heritage value, despite previous fears the move would set a precedent that could cause planning issues.

The City of Melbourne council on Tuesday made a unanimous decision to include scent on a statement of significance for the factory – at 1 Vegemite Way in Fishermans Bend. Such a statement provides special heritage recognitions for important sites.

Last year, the council stopped short of declaring the Vegemite smell “significant” when it recognised its heritage value in a bid to ensure no “future development of Fishermans Bend” was put in jeopardy, the deputy lord mayor, Nicholas Reece, said at the time.

But during a council meeting on Tuesday night, Reece said its recognition did not mean the smell “needs to be protected”.

“But … the distinctive smell of Vegemite should be acknowledged in any future development of the site,” Reece told the meeting.

Councillor Rohan Leppert, who moved amendments to the heritage overlay for Fishermans Bend area, said the council was not “backflipping” on its previous decision about the smell.

“What we sought to do before we referred this matter to [an independent planning] panel was to reflect the smell of Vegemite in the statement of significance, acknowledging then as we do now that that doesn’t have any bearing on the future development of the place,” Leppart told the council meeting.

“It’s just something that should be interpreted when the place is redeveloped – whether that’s through a plaque, whether that’s through any other sort of interpretation.”

The move to add the smell to a statement of significance was backed by the National Trust, which said it was “familiar to generations of local