IT’S cute but a bit clapped out, and now one of Mayland’s heritage-listed workers cottages is set to get a new life at the front of a group of five two-storey townhouses.

Bayswater council officers have recommended the council approve an application to partly demolish the category three heritage cottage at 104 Eighth Avenue and reposition it at the front of the development.

Arasi Construction Pty Ltd had argued that the size and layout of the cottage made it unsellable in a modern market. Instead, it wants to keep just the hip roof, weatherboard cladding, bull nose verandah, decorative valance, central front door and double hung sash windows and bung something a bit bigger and more modern on the back.

Council staff say the modern addition is acceptable because it doesn’t try to replicate a heritage look and it’s set back.

“It is acknowledged that relocating the heritage building may diminish the heritage value of the place to some degree as the original setting of a heritage place intrinsically has some heritage value, particularly when landscaping or other external features tie in with the heritage value of the built form,” the officer’s report stated.