A £500,000 bid to restore a 19th century open-air theatre where Sir Patrick Stewart once performed could soon be approved.
Kirklees planners said the plan by monks for the Community Of The Resurrection in Mirfield will significantly enhance a heritage asset and are advising councillors to approve the bid.
The monks are leading a campaign for its reinstatement and refurbishment to bring public performances back, but first need planning permission from Kirklees Council.
The natural amphitheatre in the community’s 20-acre grounds was created when stone was quarried to build a house, it was turned into a theatre and as many as 6,000 people a time packed in to see performances at the Stocks Bank Road venue.
The planning report said the plan “would be in keeping with the character of the area, the setting of nearby listed buildings and the surrounding environment” and urged members of the Heavy Woollen Planning Sub-Committee to approve it when they meet next Thursday from 1pm at Dewsbury Town Hall.
Planners add: “The proposal will reinstate and conserve the heritage asset; it will sustain and enhance the significance of the heritage asset putting it to a viable use consistent with its conservation.
“It will make a positive contribution to the conservation of the heritage asset.”
The Community Of The Resurrection hope to stage 14 performances a year there between May and September for up to 750 people, with the chance for schools to also perform there.
It involves terracing of recycled plastic seating and retaining the grassed area in front of the stage to form a picnic style seating area. A retractable cover over the stage would be fixed to the existing rock face.
Kirklees Council received five representations relating to noise, impact on roads and impact on future house sales.
Mirfield-born Hollywood actor Sir Patrick Stewart had his first stage experience in the theatre and suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst also spoke at the ampitheatre.
In the 1970s the community closed the theatre and it became overgrown. All the stonework remains intact, however.
Now general manager at the community, Guy Laurie, plans to restore the theatre and re-open it to professional companies and the local community alike.
Mr Laurie said of the plans: “We didn’t want it to be a museum piece but a venue that has a real relevance today.”
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