A DERELICT former music venue in Bradford can be refurbished to create a community centre and nursery.

From the 1970s onward the Palm Cove Club on Hollings Road, Manningham, hosted bands like Diamond Head and The Cure, as well as numerous club nights.

But the venue has been derelict for years, with sections of the building having collapsed.

Earlier this Summer the Hollings Youth Association applied for planning permission to convert the building into a community centre with an attached nursery and “multi use” facilities.

There will also be a 12 space car park on the site.

The plans say the development would provide an important facility for young people in the area, as well as offering skills training for unemployed people.

That application has this week been approved by planning officers at Bradford Council.

The venue was vital part of Bradford’s music scene for many years, hosting many up and coming rock bands. It was later used as a reggae club.

Referring to the building’s past, the planning application said: “As the area developed, the use dwindled and there was subsequently less need for a club house.

“Over the years, the development has since been left in a state of disrepair. Due to this, much of the property requires heavy refurbishment and regeneration.

“The proposal aims to bring life back to the building by using the bones of the existing structure to create an improved mixed-use development that effortlessly integrates into its surroundings.

“A key provision is to create a community-centric destination specifically for the youth and unemployed to learn and develop new skills to allow them to integrate into wider society. “Bradford has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the UK.”

Approving the application, planning officers said: “The site occupies a relatively sustainable location close to local shops and services. The locality is within a mix use area surrounded by residential dwellings and given the buildings previous use as a club house and the proposed use to be used by the community would be acceptable.”

A condition of the approval is that the centre can only open between 8am and 10pm on Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays.

Another condition is that a landscape plan, showing which trees on the site are going to be retained and what new planting will take place at the community centre.