PLANS have been submitted to Kirklees Council for a new £1.5m youth and community centre on the Gilder Hall site in Mirfield.

Members of the Gilder Hall Project have put in an outline plan for a new centre, with sports facilities and parking, on the current site in Greenside Road.

The site - a building and three acres of land - were left in trust for the boys of Mirfield who had lost their fathers in the First World War.

Mirfield spinster Annie Robinson gave the land and building, a former malt kiln, in 1923.

Kirklees became trustee last century and the site was earmarked for housing in the planning blueprint, the UDP.

The Gilder Hall Project, comprised of members of the public, aims to create a new community building on the site for the youth of the town and other organisations.

Project secretary Mr Geoff Walls said: "The planning application is really to remove the site from the UDP, as it is designated for housing.

"The application will have to go to the relevant Government department. As soon as it has been cleared by the Government we can start rebuilding proper."

Mr Walls said he hoped to get Government clearance in three to four months.

A more detailed planning application could then be submitted to Kirklees.