Dover Harbour Board has won its application to dredge the Goodwin Sands, ending a bitter two-year battle.

The government's Marine Management Organisation today announced consent to carry out aggregate dredging at Area 521, known as the South Goodwin Sands, off Deal.

The Port Authority will be allowed to dig up to three million tonnes of aggregate.

This is set to be undertaken between September 2019 and September 2020.

The aggregate is needed to provide fill material for the wider Dover Western Docks Revival project.

The decision follows extensive public consultation, during which over 1,300 specific representations from the public were received.

The MMO says issues raised during this consultation were taken into account by the applicant, the MMO and its primary advisers in determining the application.

It believes it was right to grant the licence because sufficient measures were proposed to protect the marine environment, prevent interference with legitimate users of the seas and mitigate other impacts.

John Tuckett, chief executive of the MMO, said:“We understand the strength of feeling surrounding this development, both for and against.

"As a regulator that has to balance and manage competing uses of the marine environment we accept that not everyone will be happy with the decisions we make.

“However we are entirely impartial in our marine licensing process and are satisfied that this decision is based on the best available evidence and is proportionate and complies with relevant policy.”

A Dover Harbour Board spokesman said: "The Port of Dover is pleased that the MMO has issued the marine licence necessary for it to obtain the reclamation material that it would need to complete the final reclamation stage for the DWDR development.

"The MMO is an independent, evidence-based decision maker and in order to make an informed decision has considered all the information made available through the application and the public consultation process. We welcome the decision which hopefully brings a conclusion to this matter.

"This is excellent news for British trade.

" DWDR will create additional capacity and resilience in a port which already handles 17% of the UK’s trade in goods and is important too for the future of Dover and the east Kent region.

" It forms a key element of the town’s regeneration plan, bringing significant economic development to the region, and will act as a catalyst for the waterfront development.

The port authority had also argued that it only wanted to dig 0.22% of the Sands.

It said that inability to dredge the Sands could lose £0.5bin in jobs, regeneration, tourism and new business.

The controversy dragged on over the last two years with a large scale of opposition against the scheme, particularly by the protest group Goodwin Sands SOS (Save Our Sands).

Members fear damage to both the environment and to war graves in the area.

The arguments led to an unprecedented third public consultation, which ended last September 28.

For that, groups such as Dover and Deal Town Councils also announced that they opposed a licence.

Cllr Callum Warriner had successfully put through a motion for the Dover authority to object.

He now says: "I am deeply disappointed by the decision of the MMO and will struggle to appreciate the thinking behind it.

When I confronted the question of the dredging in my motion I believed then as now that DHB were putting profit above the national interest.

"I did not imagine that the MMO would share their disregard for our heritage."

A spokesman for Dover Town Council overall added: “This is a very disappointing decision by the MMO following the council’s and many other objections.

" It also highlights, yet again, how statutory authorities fail to listen to local opinion and community representatives.”

Cllr Mike Eddy, Labour group leader at Dover district and Deal Mill Hill district and town councillor, was also against the dredging.

He said: "There is a potential of wave and subsurface water damaged to the seafront off Deal.

"This would be through creating a water channel from the dredging, which is very close to the coast, probably only a mile.

"The MMO and Dover Harbour Board did not express concern about this in their environmental studies."

Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke said: “It was right for the MMO to carry out a full and independent assessment of these plans. Like everyone else I'm very surprised at the decision they came to.

“Yet it has taken far too long for this decision to be made and it was wrong to have such a cloud of uncertainty for so long.

“It is vital that any dredging does not impact on the wildlife or disturb any shipwrecks. The utmost care must be taken at all times.”

South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay said he had not taken sides during the row but now accepted the MMO's decisions.

He siad: “I know that the Dover Harbour Board have previously issued assurances that no known military wrecks or aircraft crash sites are within the proposed dredge area, which seemed to address many of the primary concerns raised by campaigners.

The MMO is a statutory body, and has been made fully aware of the concerns of the Save our Sands (SoS) group and others.

"Just a couple of months ago, east Kent MPs, myself included, facilitated a face to face meeting between the campaign groups and the MMO in Parliament for a frank exchange of views.

“I had not come down on one side or the other on this issue, however emotive, researched and well-reasoned the concerns raised have been.

"At this time I can only assume that all possible scientific research has been undertaken to support the MMO’s decision, and so I have to accept the basis and reasoning behind it.

"The economic principles of local dredging to facilitate the expansion of Dover port are well made, and the expansion will have benefits to the entire economy of east Kent, which is to be welcomed.

" But I hope that caution is exercised throughout any future dredging and that mechanisms are in place to re-visit the decision should anything unexpected, be they of archaeological value or grave sites, be found.”

Kent Online will continue publishing reactions from key people and organisations as they come in.