WORK to create a £995,000 network of sewers to serve the 925-home Sowerby Gateway estate is set to start on Monday (January 6).

Engineering firm Mott MacDonald Bentley is expected to take five months to lay 1.5 kilometres of sewers in fields off Topcliffe Road, in Sowerby, upgrade sewers in Back Lane and build a new sewage pumping station on the estate site.

The work comes after nearly a year of preparatory work on the 56-hectare site south-west of Thirsk, that has seen a handful of properties in the 107-home and 4,400sq metres of commercial buildings first phase completed.

It is understood work to create a four-way junction on the nearby A168, which must be finished within six months of the first house being occupied, will start at the end of February.

Meanwhile, Hambleton District Council’s planning committee is expected to consider a proposal to build an extra care facility for older people with 26 two-bedroom bungalows and 64 flats on the estate next month.

The plan includes a café which will be open to the public to encourage community interaction and four shops covering a total of 520sq m.

Council officers are also examining minor changes to the layout of a £4m sports village beside the estate after concerns over vehicle access to the site, floodlights near houses and the location of allotments were raised at a public consultation exercise.

Residents have been warned to expect disruption in the area for up to ten weeks from Monday (January 6), with the closure of a section of Back Lane from the junction with Sandholmes Lane to number 40 for the sewerage work.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: “We appreciate that the work will be disruptive but we’ll do everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum and we will be working closely with the local community.”

He added traffic would be diverted around Gravel Hole Lane and Front Street and the road closure was to protect the safety of the on-site team and road users.

He said the majority of the sewer pipeline would be installed using a drilling system, which would be less disruptive than the alternative open-trench method.