A THREE-storey art deco block of flats could be the legacy of a Dunmow company which is moving on after 11 years in the town. The entire company of Perkins Garage, based next to Foakes Hall, on Stortford Road, is shutting up shop and moving to Rayne, wher

A THREE-storey art deco block of flats could be the legacy of a Dunmow company which is moving on after 11 years in the town.

The entire company of Perkins Garage, based next to Foakes Hall, on Stortford Road, is shutting up shop and moving to Rayne, where company spokesman Ian Terry said they would be expanding into a bigger site.

"We have decided to close the garage in Dunmow after 11 great years because there is no room to expand on the site. No jobs will be lost as all our staff will be moving to our Rayne showroom, which has two and a half acres of land," he said.

To make a profit on the site by selling it as luxury housing, the directors of Perkins consulted a duo of architects from Design Team Consultants, Warren Smith and Andrew Haywood, and came up with the idea of keeping the theme of the existing art deco shape of the garage by developing something similar in its place.

Mr Terry said: "We wanted to leave behind a legacy for Dunmow to be proud of and we believe that by keeping the 1932 art deco design we can enhance the location as well as create some high quality luxury housing for the upper end of the housing market."

Although a planning application has not been officially submitted to Uttlesford District Council yet the design team and the garage owners wanted to run it by the neighbours of the site and the town council first to gauge responses and check they had the right idea.

This was met with delight from town councillors on Tuesday night, as they gathered for the presentation at Foakes Hall.

Cllr Trudi Hughes, who has often opposed any developments near the town centre conservation area, said: "It is wonderful to see a high quality design and that someone has really thought about the impact on the area. I think this is rather exciting."

Mr Terry was then asked if he and his team were going to follow through the design themselves or leave it up to a third party like most developments of this nature. He replied: "We would like to do it ourselves, because even though we have only been in the town for 11 years, we have taken Dunmow to our hearts and we would like to make sure we get it right."

Traffic and parking near to the site is likely to improve as the use changes from industrial to residential, as 17 parking spaces, possibly underground, have also been included in the design.

If built the new apartments are likely to fetch a premium rate, said architect Warren Smith.

What do you think of a possible new addition to Dunmow's main road in to town?

E-mail us your thoughts at nick.thompson@archant.co.uk or write to us at 54 High Street, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1EE.