FEARS that Huddersfield Sea Cadets may run aground have been allayed.

The 63-year-old organisation, which teaches discipline and seafaring skills to young people, is to get a new home after councillors approved the plans.

The decision by Kirklees's Huddersfield area planning committee was welcomed by Reg Horner, chairman of the cadets' management committee.

He said: "We are delighted and very, very relieved. This ends almost 11 years of worry by the cadets for our future in the town."

AQH Development Services applied to build a temporary sea cadets/community hall on Snow Island, King's Mill Lane, Huddersfield, just yards from the premises which the unit has used as a base since 1981.

The base is now uneconomical to repair and needs replacing.

But planners said in a report that the new building was in urban green space, which should not be lost.

The report said part of the council-owned Snow Island site was developed for student accommodation in 2001.

Permission for the site included a large office block which would require removal of the cadets' building.

A total of about 35 boys and girls aged 10 to 18 years go to meetings at the premises.

It also acts as a twice- monthly base for sailing which is done at Winscar Reservoir, Dunford Bridge.

The planners' report said the siting of the unit next to the river and near the canal made it unique for training sea cadets.

And it said the cadets played an important role in teaching young people discipline and skills which were becoming scarcer.

But the report said the development of urban green space in this instance would be unacceptable as it would result in the loss of open space, visual amenity and wildlife value.

But councillors over-ruled planners' recommendations to refuse the application and approved the plan.

Mr Horner said the cadets provided a valuable youth organisation.

He said that last year the cadets raised £2,500 for the RNLI with a boat-pull and also helped environmentalists Greenpeace keep the river clean.

Mr Horner said the decision ended speculation over the group's future since a development brief for Snow Island was published in 1993 by Kirklees Council's Economic Development Unit.

He said the cadets hoped the developers would help with the £130,000 cost of the new building. The cadets would also be applying to charities and trusts for extra cash. Work should start next year.