Plans to build an ambitious £100m harbour eco-village at a former quarry near Larne have been given the green light by Environment Minister Sammy Wilson.

The scheme would transform the former cement works and quarry on the shores of Larne Lough — described as an eyesore by the Minister — into Ireland’s first One Planet Living Community centring on a world class cycling centre, scuba dive centre and film studios.

As well as the eco village, the 153-hectare site would feature a heritage railway and visitor centre, events area, ecology/art park, bird watching centre, film studios and back lo All Ireland diving centre using a large lake in the quarry, industrial archaeology park, visitor accommodation and World Cycling Centre with arena, holiday cabins, sports hotel and service complex.

Based around a harbour jutting into Larne Lough, the eco-village itself would be home to 450 dwellings, tourist information centre, pub, restaurants, retail units, community centre, hotel and harbourside tourist point with viewing tower, boating facilities and chandlery.

Equivalent in size to 220 football pitches, Maghermorne is the largest ‘brownfield’ site awaiting redevelopment in Northern Ireland and the completed project is expected to create 400 jobs.

Speaking ahead of a visit to Magheramorne Quarry this morning, Mr Wilson said: “This is an imaginative and unique opportunity for Northern Ireland that will reuse what has become a redundant quarry and replace it with a major tourist attraction.

“With strategic rail and road transport links readily available due to its close proximity to Larne — one of the gateways to Northern Ireland — this will provide a boost for the tourism industry across the province.

“Two hundred years of quarrying and cement production has taken its toll on the landscape and I am delighted that this scheme will remove what has become a major eyesore from one of our valued scenic routes and rejuvenate the area.

“This is an ambitious and exciting £100m project for the 21st century. It will create a variety of jobs and should also draw a range of tourists to the area.”

The site would be developed by Lafarge Cement UK in a number of phases, starting with the development of the World Cycling Centre — the first purpose designed mountain bike events facility in Ireland and one of the first in the UK. The company says it hopes development work could begin as early as next year.

Quarrying at Magheramorne ended in 1980 and the works closed in 2001, against a backdrop of a fierce battle by local communities to prevent it being transformed into a massive landfill. Its proximity to an internationally important colony of roseate terns was instrumental in the decision at a public inquiry to block the landfill plan.

Lafarge said it is working with WWF to establish the eco-village as a community where residents aim to use only their fair share of the earth's resources. The plans include measures to protect wildlife, including buffer zones around the lough shore and nature reserves.

Lafarge Cement UK land and planning director David Simms said: “For the best part of a hundred years, the cement works at Magheramorne was a major employer in the area and a fundamental part of the day-to-day life of the local community. This project is a big thank-you to the local community.

“It is not about making money — it is about leaving a legacy from which the next generation can benefit, at the same time as creating an exemplar of how we can all live our lives in a more environmentally conscious way.” Jim Urwin, director of lead consultants David Lock Associates since work began on the plan in 2002, said: “There are many aspects of the Magheramorne site which have made it a very special project. There is the sheer size of it and the drama of the quarry faces.

“There is the challenge of working next to Larne Lough, which is a Special Protection Area of its birdlife, and of finding uses for the site that will bring real benefits to the area and which can be made to working alongside one another.”

Geoff Nuttall, head of WWF Northern Ireland said: “If everyone lived as we do currently in Northern Ireland we would need three planets worth of resources to sustain us.

“The Magheramorne project can show how we can live one planet lives and put Northern Ireland on the map as a world leader in sustainability.”