REVISED plans of a trading estate redevelopment which would see scores of businesses relocated went on show last week.

Around 50 people came to a two-day exhibition at the Faircharm estate in Deptford, showing the plans site-owners Workspace have for the site.

A former carburettor factory, the various units have become a magnet for artists and creative industries over the years, creating a unique environment.

So when plans to demolish the buildings, replacing them with buildings up to 14-storeys high and 230 homes were suggested last year, there were concerns from existing tenants and Lewisham Deptford MP Joan Ruddock that Deptford's character was under threat.

That reaction, and Lewisham Council's decision to create a conservation area at Creekside and the neighbouring Crossfields estate, has led to change in the plans.

Development manager Ian Dubber said: "Previously we were hoping for a wholesale redevelopment of the site.

"The conservation area was an opportunity to think again."

Now two of the estates buildings will be kept, with the inside "reconfigured" to create more business space.

Mr Dubber said numbers of units were still up for debate but he expected an extra "90 to 100 jobs" on site.

The other block will be demolished and replaced with four buildings, five to nine storeys high at the back of the site, featuring 150 to 160 homes, flexible studio space and public access to the creek.

Buildings will be covered in corten steel, creating an industrial feel.

However, current businesses are set to leave while the work is underway, with Workspace saying they would try to give them other units elsewhere in the capital.

Mr Dubber said: "If they want to come back, we'll provide the opportunity where possible."

A planning application is expected to be submitted in the autumn.