GROUND BREAKING BEGINS ON INNOVATIVE DORSET DEVELOPMENT, SILVERLAKE

Up to 750 direct jobs are being created as the ground breaking begins for high-quality holiday accommodation and nature conservation on the site of Warmwell Quarry in Crossways.

Habitat First Group, which also owns Lower Mill Estate, the award-winning and high-quality sustainable holiday accommodation in the Cotswolds, is now starting to develop the quarry, building up to 1,000 holiday chalets and lodges, a country club and spa and protecting hundreds of species of wildlife on the 650 acre site, as well as reinvigorating the local economy.

The development, called Silverlake, is a key economic driver for the future of the West Dorset economy, encouraging inward investment, local spending and further employment. The construction stage alone is expected to generate £470million over a 20 to 30year period, of which over half would be spent with local businesses.

573 construction jobs are being created, 286 of them with local firms and another 180 full-time jobs would be created on the site of the completed Silverlake scheme. Another 270 indirect jobs are also expected from visitor spend in the area.

Red Paxton, Owner of Habitat First Group, commented “We have listened to and worked extensively with the local community to create a unique site which would have been derelict land. Potential homeowners are already buying plots of land and building their homes in this beautiful part of Dorset, at the same time contributing to important economic growth. The ground breaking today symbolises the start of a vital development for this region.”

Silverlake will create an environment of wide open spaces, high-quality landscaping and recreation facilities for local people, as well as use creative design built on the key principles of sustainability, energy efficiency and biodiversity.

The aim throughout is to protect and encourage wildlife at the site, with species surveys having been carried out to identify the key areas of ecological importance for breeding birds, reptiles, dormouse, otter, water vole, invertebrates and bats for example.

As well as the development of the site itself, which is very well concealed from its immediate surroundings, the plan includes a focus on supporting the local tourist economy while protecting the environment – with the use of buses linking Silverlake with Moreton Station, Dorchester, Weymouth, Poundbury and the coast, as well as the creation of cycling and foot paths so as to discourage car use.