A NEW café at Whitecliff Recreation Ground will only be allowed to open until 9pm, despite a Poole council cabinet member’s plea for later hours.

Members of the authority’s planning committee rejected the request on Thursday, agreeing that later hours was inappropriate outside of the town centre.

The new café – which has yet to be built – will now be allowed to open for an extra three hours from April to September from the originally agreed 6pm but no change was approved for the winter months.

Poole council’s plans to develop Whitecliff Pavilion, which would see new public toilets and upgraded changing facilities provided alongside the café, were approved last year.

It has been planning to begin a tender process to find someone willing to run the café but warned that a planning condition requiring it to close by 6pm would deter any interested parties.

As a result, an application seeking to vary the condition to an 11pm closing time was submitted earlier this year.

This was considered on Thursday with planning officers recommending that 9pm was more appropriate.

In a report, Eleanor Godesar said it “would create a potential evening economy-orientated restaurant use that would be more appropriately located in a main town centre location”.

However, in a written statement to the committee, Cllr John Rampton, cabinet member for open spaces, said that this was the council’s policy.

“The council has a stated policy of commercialisation and also of trying to enhance and grow the evening economy and tourism,” he said.

“It is difficult to believe that any commercial operator serving food would want to take on a building and invest in it when the building has to be locked up by 9pm.

“Last food serving would have to be no later than 8pm to allow this. Even now, cricket matches can go on later than this.”

A proposed amendment to make the closing time 10pm in the summer months put forward by Cllr Ann Stribley was voted down with the committee backing the recommendation of 9pm.