A CAR showroom could be demolished to make way for a new apartment block.

A planning application has been submitted to knock down Glen Garage Suzuki and build a block of eight flats.

The garage closed last year after 70 years in business - the last 35 as a dealer for Suzuki - with the loss of 20 jobs.

It was a family business that was first established in 1948.

A statement from RHW Developments, which has submitted the application, says: “In this location, as part of a residential neighbourhood, it is arguably a land use that is not ideally suited. Moreover its appearance is fairly incongruous in relation to its surroundings.

“The proposals make a valuable contribution to housing stock levels though the reuse of a brownfield site.

“If possible, opportunities to improve bio-diversity for its own value and also for any aesthetic benefits should be considered.”

The plans include three one-bedroom flats and five two-bedroom apartments, with some of the properties having balconies.

Designs also include solar panels and a curved roof on the building, which would be two and three-storeys high. The entrance to the building would be from Hawthorn Grove.

The report adds: “The apartments are generously sized to ensure a high standard of accommodation for residents despite these being towards the entry level of private housing.”

Plans for nine new apartments to be built on the garage’s former workshop, off Hawthorn Street, were given the green light last year.

The proposals were originally for 11 flats at this site but the number was later reduced to nine.

As part of the plans, a grassed area will be kept at the corner of the site and landscaped areas will be introduced to boost biodiversity as developers say the site currently has no green space.