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Cafe on the Curve is the latest vendor wanting to sell booze on Dover Seafront

Another area on Dover seafront could serve booze if a licence is granted.

Cafe on the Curve has asked Dover District Council for the green light to trade drinks along with the food it already serves on the newly opened Marina Curve piazza beside the port's new pier and Marina.

It comes after nearby Best Western Dover Marina Hotel got a licence to sell drinks from two newly-built wooden bars on its beach-font terrace despite opposition from residents over more places in the area selling alcohol and anti-social behaviour.

The new application, by Strawberry Hill Limited/ Riverside Catering Services describes the venue as a kiosk "serving toasties seafood baskets and canapes."

The limited company adds: "We would also like to complement our menu with speciality wine liquors and local beers ancillary to food."

Kiosks are on the including the brown kiosk called Cafe on the Curve which seeks a drinks licence
Kiosks are on the including the brown kiosk called Cafe on the Curve which seeks a drinks licence

Timings would be 9am to 10pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 11pm Friday to Sunday, according to the application form.

The area has seen vast amounts of renovation in the Port of Dover's flagship £250m Dover Western Docks Revival (DWDR) project and a cafe culture is being encouraged.

In what is the single biggest investment the port has ever undertaken there is now the new Marina Pier, a new marina and piazza called the Clocktower Square which can be enjoyed by visitors.

The Western Docks Marina Curve
The Western Docks Marina Curve

A cargo terminal further into the Western Docks has also opened.

The public area, known collectively as the Marina Curve or Clocktower Square, is being eyed-up for a potential mixed use development too. A scheme including a 90 bed motel, restaurant bar and outside pool made from converted shipping containers was submitted and deferred with the instruction to designers to "go back to the drawing board" making the scheme more suited to the world class port.

Current licensed premises on the seafront include the Best Western, its two terrace bars, Cullens Yard restaurant, the Dover Patrol restaurant and bar and the Marine Curt restaurant at Premier Inn.

A CGI shows the design for the motel made from shipping containers planned at Dover Marina Curve
A CGI shows the design for the motel made from shipping containers planned at Dover Marina Curve

During the consultation for the hotel's application to licence two bars, neighbours had complained of already seeing alcohol misuse on the seafront.

Amanda Stockbridge had said: "We’ve seen defecation, urination, vomiting in public areas on a regular basis, it’s not fun.

“There are going to be a lot of places in a small area serving alcohol. All of these places are adding up".

The two outside bars are already in situ at Best Western Dover Marina Hotel
The two outside bars are already in situ at Best Western Dover Marina Hotel

But vice chairman of DDC's licencing committee Cllr Oliver Richardson said he agreed with the burgeoning cafe culture in Dover and wanted to see more of it at the seafront.

The picturesque area attracts tourists and cruise and ferry passengers as well as Kent residents.

The public consultation for the The Cafe on the Curve's application ends on August 30, if no representations are received the application will be granted as applied for. If representations are received, a hearing will be arranged within 20 working days from the end of consultation.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover

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