500 sites identified for £6bn 'garden city' in the Black Country

The ambitious scheme unveiled earlier this year is create a city built around Wolverhampton.

It would stretch to Lye and Dudley Port, West Bromwich and Aldridge.

The 'garden city' would be the largest in the country and it would be built with open spaces and greenery in mind.

Civic and business leaders attended a MIPIM international property exhibition in the south of France to attract investment to fund the plans.

And today, Chris Handy, chief executive of Accord Group and board member of the Black Country Local Enterprise Project, which is behind the plan, said 'good progress' had been made.

He told board members at the Black Country LEP the scheme had attracted interest with at least eight small and medium-sized enterprises enquiring about it.

These included developers and builders wanting to support the project.

He said: "Following the launch of the project we have had interest from three types of organisations, one being builders, the other being developers and lastly there has been interest from investors."

He added: "Around 550 sites have been identified in the Black Country, with information on each acquired up to estate agent detail.

"The sites spread across 30 towns which include Walsall and Willenhall among other towns around Wolverhampton."

Mr Handy said out of the 45,000 homes to be built work had already started preparing 13,000 to 14,000 properties.

The scheme will cover more than 3,700 acres.

MIPIM – Le marché international des professionnels de l'immobilier – was a four-day exhibition, conference and networking event in Cannes.

Once funding has been secured work will last for a decade.

Brownfield site will be targeted with old industrial areas being built on rather than green fields.

The development is being led by the Black Country LEP and the Homes and Communities Agency, with the support of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

A series of new garden city schemes have been launched by the Government over the last two years in the South of England,

The garden city will boost housing capacity for workers in those sectors, but is also a reaction to the surge in demand for housing triggered by record levels of business investment.

It is designed to cater for unprecedented demand for housing and to sustain record levels of private sector investment coming into the region.