The Port of Dover has todaylaunched a campaign to push for the Goodwin Sands to be dredged.

The scheme, Deliver for Dover, is the latest episode in the authority’s bitter row with the pressure group Goodwin Sands SOS (Save Our Sands) which wants the area left untouched.

The port authority, describing GSSOS’s campaign as a “misleading Deal-based protest,” warns that without the dredging, for the Dover Western Docks Revival, hundreds of jobs would be at stake.

It also warns that the regeneration, the biggest in Dover in 70 years, would be left incomplete, causing more delay for Dovorians for completion.

A spokesman said: “Dover would lose the chance of hundreds of jobs.

“It would lose up to half a billion pounds in terms of jobs, regeneration, tourism and new business thanks to a Deal-based protest.

“The DWDR would be incomplete and we would not get the new marina and new shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars.”

Dover Harbour Board is depending on the granting of a licence from the Marine Management Organisation to dredge a section of the Goodwin Sands off Deal.

GSSOS has fiercely fought this, fearing environmental damage and disturbance of war graves on the site.

The port authority had originally applied for the licence in May 2016 but objections have led to the setting up of a third public consultation, covering 42 days, from this month.

Deliver for Dover is a campaign involving radio, press, TV and advertising and rallying the support of groups such as the Environment Agency, Kent County Council, Dover District Council and the districts’ town and parish authorities.

The Port of Dover has long argued that only 0.22% of the Goodwin Sands would be dredged for this project, leaving 99.7% untouched.

It argues that the area has been dug for material for the building of the Channel Tunnel and the creation of the HS1 fast train service between London and Kent.

Joanna Thomson, spokesman of the Save Our Sands group, said: “The development is not reliant on dredging specifically from the Goodwin Sands. There are easily accessible, already licensed dredging areas in the East English Channel and Thames Estuary."

She added: "These sites are all well within the industry norm in terms of distance from dredging site to wharf.

“It is quite clear that DHB have failed to incorporate a contingency plan into their development budget, which is hard to believe for a project of this national importance.

“Many Dovorians, who are our supporters, are questioning whether it is really necessary to fill in the Granville and Tidal Docks. Having already lost the Prince of Wales Pier, despite trying to protect it, they are anxious not to lose more of Dover’s maritime history than absolutely necessary.

“The campaign is being intimidated and harassed by DHB just because it is not all going their own way. The licence application process is a democratic one that involves public consultations. The public has been consulted and it is objecting. Scaremongering tactics from DHB are not a grown up form of response.

“The restaurants, cafes and shops planned for the marina are all investment opportunities for incoming businesses. They are not being paid for by DHB.”