MONKS who have asked Kirklees Council for permission to build a new monastery could get the go-ahead tomorrow.

The Community of the Resurrection wants to set up a new headquarters next to its Grade-II listed church on Stocks Bank Road in Mirfield.

Kirklees officers have recommended that the proposal is approved.

The council’s Heavy Woollen Planning Sub-committee will rule on the issue at its monthly meeting at Dewsbury Town Hall from 1pm tomorrow.

The monastery is home to 20 brothers who have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

The 0.9 hectare site includes the House of the Resurrection – a Victorian mill owner’s home – a church which was built in 1911 and the College of the Resurrection.

The brothers have asked Kirklees for permission to build a more modern monastery.

The new building would be almond-shaped and would be 66 metres long, 27.5 metres wide and 11.3 metres high.

Part of the roof would be glazed and would include seven lights.

The monastery would include 25 en suite bedrooms, including three with intensive care equipment. There would also be a meeting room, a kitchen, a refectory and areas for worship and study.

A new access would also be set up off Stocks Bank Road.

Twelve mature trees would be chopped down to make way for the development.

In a report to Kirklees planners, the council’s arboricultural officer said: “These trees are not in a good condition and their removal would not compromise the quality of the canopy of the woodland area.”

English Heritage supports the plan. The organisation told Kirklees: “We do not object in principle to a sensitively designed new building providing the proposal does not dominate the existing building and it is appropriately detailed using high-quality materials.”

Mirfield Town Council said it had “mixed views over the design” but “fundamentally there were no objections”.

The Community of the Resurrection is a group of Anglican monks inspired by St Benedict. The association was founded in Oxford in 1892, moving to Mirfield six years later.

Unlike other monasteries, the Community of the Resurrection is not cut off from the outside world. Monks take part in charity work at home and abroad and the monastery welcomes 3,000 visitors a year.