Residents in Wigton want to create a "neighbourhood plan" to help steer the town into the future following widespread concern about the amount of houses being built.

A number of large developments are on the cards for the town, with hundreds of homes poised to be built over the next few years.

Story Contracting recently won permission for a 50-home estate on Lowmoor Road, with Persimmon Homes also stating their interest in building a further 200 on land next door.

Those developments - and a raft of others in the pipeline - have led to many residents being concerned about how the town's infrastructure will cope with a growing population and continued fears about flooding.

A number of public meetings were held in opposition to the plans.

A Wigton Residents Group has now been formed.

Representatives of the group made a presentation to Wigton Town Council at last week's monthly meeting calling on the authority to lead the creation of a "neighbourhood plan".

A group spokesman said there was a feeling that the views of concerned residents in recent housing applications had not been represented.

But rather than looking for conflict, the residents group believes that everyone can work together.

The other concerns raised by the group are that housing developments planned for Wigton are unconnected and lacking in joined-up thinking.

"What we put forward was a request to them to put in place a neighbourhood plan," Pam Batley, a member of the residents group, said.

"That would work with other interested residents of Wigton and look at the future for the town as a whole.

"Our initial interest is through the developments that are planned for the future and the impact they will have on the town.

"On the whole there was an agreement on this and a willingness to take this forward."

The two parties plan on holding further talks, it is understood.

The idea of the neighbourhood plan comes from the Localism Act 2011, which allows residents and businesses to get involved in the planning process.

"We can either work against the councils [town and Allerdale] to try and stop everything or we can try to work together for the betterment of the community," Pam added.

"We know it's very difficult for the town council to say they don't want a development because it's coming from Allerdale Council or central Government, who are very keen to ensure more houses are built.

"We want to try and work with the council to slow this process down a little bit, allowing the town to assimilate what's happening and give us time to plan and make sure the town keeps its heritage.

"One of the big issues is traffic and because of the core of the town, it's very difficult to improve it.

"Another thing we are aware of is the potential closure of hospital beds at Wigton, of school places, flooding and another issue which hasn't been highlighted is that the town has been placed on the 'at risk' register by English Heritage.

"That's something that needs to be protected."

Alan Pitcher, Wigton's mayor, said they are arranging a meeting with Allerdale Council's planning department to see what work is involved so progress can be made with the residents group.

Once that advice has been taken a further meeting, hopefully involving the town council, residents group and Allerdale Council will be arranged.

"The whole point of suggesting what we suggested is we want to work together with them, we want cooperation as it is everybody's town," Mr Pitcher added.

The group has not, however, ruled out challenging some developments that come forward.

* Anyone interested in contributing to the group should contact Pam on 016973 42020 or through the 'Wigton Save Our Kissing Gates and Green Belt Land' Facebook page.