Owner of Weymouth's Caddy Shack Café hopes to reopen for the summer

A Weymouth Café, originally closed due to a complaint about noise and the smell of bacon, will be submitting a new planning application

Author: Jamie GuerraPublished 11th Jan 2024

Weymouth’s Caddy Shack Café will submit a new planning application in hopes of reopening by the summer.

Owner, of the pop up cafe at Weymouth Rugby Club, Emma Ayles met with an architect on the site yesterday to discuss the changes that need to be made.

She told us: “The architect is going to submit it as soon as soon as he’s got the plans drawn up and he seems to think it can take eight weeks so I’m hoping we can be open and outside again for the summer.”

The café was permanently closed in the weeks leading up to Christmas due to complaints over “the smell of bacon” and “teaspoons stirring”.

Emma said: “One of the complaints asked if I could turn it around or move it further back in the carpark, so that’s what we’ll be doing as well as everything else the council has requested.

“We’ll be the other end of the car park next to the Rugby Club clubhouse, so hopefully there won’t be any more complaints as it's quite far away from any houses.

“We’ve even had people come down to inspect the noise and the smells and they found no fault whatsoever, so finger crossed the planning application goes straight through.”

A petition to save the Caddy Shack café at Weymouth Rugby Club has since received 3,700 signatures, with 250 coming in the last week.

In the Change.Org online petition, Emma noted: “Our local food business is more than just an eatery – it’s an integral part of Dorset’s community fabric. We’ve celebrated birthdays here, shared meals with loved ones and created countless memories within the premises.

When asked about the support she’s received, Emma said: “It’s been really heartwarming to see the community get behind me and I can't thank them enough for what they've done and said.

“I feel like a lot of people want to support small independent businesses rather than buy from major chains on the high street and it’s just nice to have little pop-up café’s.”

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