• Joanna Robertson, Olivia Dockendorff and Rachel Pemberton are looking forward to the reopening of a bar at Bathers Beach. Photo by Jeremy Dixon

A seaside bar at Bathers Beach will rise again after Fremantle council gave Kidogo Arthouse the green light to build a boozer.

Kidogo owner Joanna Robertson asked the strategic and general services committee on Wednesday for a 200-patron tavern at the Shipwrights Building but had to settle for a small bar licence for 120 bar-goers.

Arthouse owner Joanna Robertson says the bar will be completely different to any other around the port city.

She ran the Kelp bar from Kidogo during the world sailing championships in December: The race was a flop but the bar was a hit and it’s had locals clamouring for its return.

“It will be still be a pop-up style bar like Kelp, which will be beautiful on a still night, sitting outside,” Ms Robertson says. “There will be days we can’t open but we could easily fill the dead space between us and the boardwalk with at least 50 people.”

Mayor Brad Pettitt is “excited” about a bar returning to Bathers Beach.

The committee voted for a small bar as a bigger tavern might damage the heritage building.

Councillor Rachel Pemberton pushed strongly for the seaside saloon.

“The relaxed atmosphere in a stunning setting with great music and friendly crowd made Kelp Bar a quintessentially Freo experience,” she says. “It was a highlight during ISAF that many people would like to see return.”