The Habitat First Group said nearly 600 construction jobs will be created during the building of Silverlake at Warmwell Quarry.

West Dorset District Council’s Planning Committee has now passed a resolution to approve outline planning permission, enabling the project to move to the next stage of detailed planning.

Warmwell Quarry is currently used for large-scale sand and gravel extraction which is due to cease by 2017.

The construction stage at Silverlake is expected to generate £470m over a 20 to 30 year period with over half spent with local businesses.

Will Vicary, Managing Director of Habitat First Group, said: “We are pleased that the councillors closely examining the plans for Silverlake have approved our request for Outline planning permission.

“We are planning to create a truly unique concept for Dorset which boosts the economy, protects and manages the environment and benefits the local community with a long-term strategic plan for the quarry.”