Yarraville man Simon Raynor said he had approached the owner of 43 Aitken Street with an offer to rebuild the derelict heritage-listed building known as Pope's Cottage.

The Victorian Heritage Register states the dwelling was built in 1855, although some argue it could date back to the early 1840s.

Owner Gary Page, of Hoppers Crossing, has applied to Heritage Victoria for a permit to demolish the dwelling before selling the site at auction.

Mr Raynor said he originally wanted to buy the land and restore the dwelling at its current site, but the property price was now beyond his reach.

"I'm not in a position to pay $1.6million to save the cottage. If the building is approved for demolition, I can remove the building and restore it on another site.

"I'm trying to buy a block of land in Williamstown where it could be moved to, and Gary is supportive of that.

"The council's belief is that they would prefer it to remain on that particular site.

"I'm only offering [to restore it off-site] as a last resort."

Mr Page believes restoration could cost up to $200,000.

Newport carpenter John Russell said he had also offered his services free, but Hobsons Bay Council had shown no interest.

In 2003, Mr Russell wrote to councillors Peter Hemphill and Angela Altair, expressing concern that the building would be lost forever.

He suggested the council or state should buy the site and subdivide it, using profit from the sale to offset the purchase price.

"I am a qualified carpenter with 30 years' experience and have enjoyed working on sensitive restoration projects. I'd be prepared to supply my labour and organisational skills gratuitously," he wrote in his original letter.

Mr Russell last week said the council seemed to provide only "lip service" after six years of inaction.

"The two councillors mentioned are still in office and after six-plus years there have been no co-ordinated discussions, no decisions made, no grants applied for and generally no progress made."

He said that, as a result, what was possibly Victoria's oldest timber cottage grew "closer and closer to obliteration".

Cr Altair, of Williamstown Ward, said that at the time Mr Russell wrote his original letter, the dwelling was not heritage-listed.

"Back in 2003, the house did not have a heritage listing because Heritage Victoria deemed that it was not worth listing."