RESIDENTS have criticised plans for nearly 1,000 homes in a village which they claim will destroy its character and cause major problems.

Developer Castlevale has submitted an application with Hambleton District Council which seeks to build 920 homes in three stages at Sowerby, near Thirsk.

The Sowerby Gateway scheme is located on 72-hectare site is on the end of Topcliffe Road and it would be built between 2011-26.

The plans also call for the creation of several sports pitches, light industrial units, a primary school and a health centre.

The first phase which Castlevale hopes to start next year and will see 108 homes built up to around 2016.

The scheme has angered many locals who fear the proposal is too large for the village and that the current roads and infrastructure will not cope.

David Bentley, of Front Street, Sowerby, said: "A lot of people are upset at this but it is not a done deal yet.

"Sowerby is a village and not a town and it has expanded greatly but the application is to build 920 homes.

"I don’t think a traffic management survey has been done properly and it will increase the traffic flow through the village.

"I think the first phase will be done and that will be it and the other phases won’t be built."

Thirsk Town Council has viewed the proposals and feels a great deal more work is needed on them before they are approved.

A town council spokesman said: "This will double the size of Sowerby and I don’t think there is any need in the community for this development.

"I feel an awful lot needs to be done on this as these plans are far too vague."

The plans comes after the Government decided that Thirsk and Northallerton were priority sites for more housing.

The Planning Inspectorate, under the Government, has stated that 1,000 homes can be built in the Thirsk and Sowerby area.

This will go in the district council’s Local Development Framework which is set to be discussed by the authority in December.

Two other sites have been identified as possible locations for the homes and these are at Station Road and East Thirsk.

Councillor Mark Robson is chairman of Sowerby Parish Council and he also covers the ward on the district council.

He said: "I think 920 homes is an awful lot of houses and this will increase Sowerby to been beyond a small village and it will give it a larger population than Thirsk.

"An awful lots needs doing on the plan. There is a lot of feeling in the village that people don’t want Sowerby increasing to this size.

"The total number of houses that will be built if all three phases are completed is 920 but the first phase only wants to build 108 homes.

"The infrastructure needs to be looked at to ensure it can cope and the job needs to be done right as it is going to be there for future generations.

"It is possible that if housing needs change that only the first or the first two phases will be built."

The scheme will offer 40 per cent affordable housing and the three separate stages will be submitted as individual plans.

Martin Foster, managing director of Castlevale, said: "It is inevitable that you will get local people who don’t want change.

"The development is split between now and 2026 and if you went back 15-years and looked at what has been built in Thirsk in that time there has been a lot.

"We want to link our development into the old part of Sowerby and we have had consultations with the public over the plans.

"We have a strategy to deal with the increase in traffic from local highways up to major highway improvements which will come on stream as soon as need.

"We’re putting in a new foul drainage system and if approved we want to be on site and building in May or June next year."

A public meeting to discuss the topic is to be held in Thirsk Town Hall on Tuesday, October 26, at 7.30pm.

The proposals can be seen at hambleton.gov.uk and at sowerbygateway.co.uk.