Cr Weston, along with several others in the community, was among those responsible for saving the building from being destroyed many years and its subsequent refurbishment.

In recent times, the cottage has housed student doctors who have been in town for long periods of time, but now Cr Weston wants to see more being done to ensure the building is put on the tourism map.

At Leeton Shire Council's most recent ordinary meeting, Cr Weston put forward a notice of motion to discuss restating recognition of the value and importance of the cottage for its heritage significance and its potential to boost tourism.

He also asked council to endorse an application being made for the cottage to be listed as "state significant".

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The cottage was home to the famous Australian poet - Henry Lawson - for about two years and is one of the last surviving examples of a typical worker's house during the establishment of the MIA.

"There has been very little ability to set aside funds for the future maintenance of the cottage which has become reliant on council's building maintenance budget for occasional repairs," Cr Weston said.

"Heritage places such as Henry Lawson Cottage are attractive tourism destinations, which can be marketed effectively to attract visitation and increase overnight stays.

"Appropriate tourism use of the cottage could contribute to its conservation via revenue generation.

"It would also raise awareness of the inherent cultural heritage value of the cottage and add variety to the experiences offered to visitors to Leeton."

Cr Weston is hoping improvements to the cottage can be made to bring the accommodation up to standard for public exhibition and to enable it to be used as short-term accommodation for visitors.

The Henry Lawson Cottage was most recently used during the Australian Art Deco Festival for performances of his poetry by Geoffrey Graham, who dressed as the poet.

The cottage is located on Daalbata Road.

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