A BRADFORD church has submitted plans to build a new community hall to first act as a stopgap building and then a future base for its homeless outreach project.

The proposal, lodged by Sunbridge Road Mission, Sunbridge Road, is part of the church's desire to build a more modern and expansive place of worship.

In February last year, the church received planning permission from Bradford Council for the new building on a site between Sunbridge Road and Thornton Road, almost directly opposite its current base.

The church now wants to build an "intermediate" community hall which would accommodate its work and worshippers until the new building becomes a reality.

Documents submitted with the application say: "Since the approval, the church's vision for the community has grown and their charity 'Real Hope' is having a great impact and significance for the surrounding area and indeed Bradford."

It adds: "At the same time, to allow the church to build the new facility, it needs a separate building to "decant" to allow the church to leave and sell its existing building stock and to meet and continue its activities in a separate building.

"When the place of worship is completed then the church can make its move to its final destination, leaving a facility totally dedicated to the vision of 'Real Hope'."

The application highlights that it would make sense to construct the intermediate building, the community hall, on the church's site at Sunbridge Road.

Last year, church leaders told the Telegraph & Argus that the new £2 million building approved by planners, to include a 470-seat auditorium, a creche, cafe and kitchen, meeting rooms, offices, ancillary accommodation and more, would be built "as quickly as funds allow".

The application for the proposed community hall also reveals details about how it will be designed.

"Sunbridge Road Mission is part of the 'Christian Evangelical Alliance' and as such there is no accepted design ethos or liturgy for new buildings," it says.

The church is described as a "modern, contemporary and family" church and the design "may not necessarily follow traditional references such as stained glass and steeples etc".

It adds: "It is intended to use materials which reflect the industrial heritage of the area but in a more contemporary manner, by using coloured metal cladding, aluminium windows and brickwork."

The main community hall will be able to accommodate up to 200 people seated or 100 people around tables. It will also have a lobby, kitchen, toilets, classrooms and storage.

While the church's new main place of worship is built, the community hall building will be used as a "decanting space" for the main church congregation and then for community events and the Real Hope charity.

Real Hope is described as a homeless outreach project, which aims to "reach out to the homeless, needy and vulnerable in the local area by displaying God's love in a practical way". On Wednesdays, it offers a free hot meal, cake and a hot drink to around 60 people.

When plans for the new church building were given the green light last year, Sunbridge Road Mission highlighted that it wanted to stay in the community where the church has existed since 1889.