BLACK Country civic and business leaders have headed off to Cannes to seek investment for plans to create Britain's biggest-ever Garden City to help meet demand for housing.

Around £6billion in investment is being sought for the project, being led by the Black Country LEP, local authorities and the Homes and Communities Agency, which aims to bring 45,000 new homes to the region over the next decade.

Regional leaders say 30 existing Black Country towns near to and within Wolverhampton would be brought together to form the Garden City.

The Lye and an area close to Dudley Port railway station are among areas earmarked for inclusion in the scheme, which aims to make use of existing infrastructure and transform brownfield sites into "new aspirational locations for quality housing development" to help meet unprecedented demand.

Early proposals drawn up say local authority leaders plan to create a new urban village in Lye with a report stating "there is plenty of scope with space to build over 750 homes on major sites and many more small infill sites".

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley's cabinet member for planning and economic development, has pledged to work closely with the Black Country LEP to develop the Garden Cities concept in the borough.

He said: "Although there is no real detail as yet, the principle will guide the development of a variety of new housing sites across the borough and beyond, focusing on high quality design and layouts in order to create new and sustainable communities.

"We have particularly good examples of brownfield sites that are ripe for development in Brierley Hill and Lye, both areas that will benefit in the future from improved transport links with the proposed Midland Metro extension from Brierley Hill to Wednesbury.”

Lye councillor Pete Lowe, Dudley Council leader, suggested the old Helix site and the sewerage works site at Caledonia could be among areas redeveloped as part of the scheme.

The Black Country Garden City concept was originally developed by a group of built environment professionals working with regional design agency MADE.

Regional leaders believe the plan is crucial to help win business investment, sustain economic growth, attract skilled workers and retain graduates from the ten West Midlands universities - and they say the development would create a vibrant area for the arts, heritage, street food, performance and crafts.

Dr Chris Handy OBE, Black Country LEP board member, said: "The Garden City is a vital part of the Black Country’s growth plans and future success.

"It will increase the appeal of the region as a place to live and work, and will boost the local construction industry and its supply chain. It is close to skilled jobs and universities, a regional market of 5million people, and is served by quality transport connections.

"Not the since the Second World War has a Garden City been built on this scale or at this speed. It’s going to transform the perception of the Black Country and demonstrate to the rest of Britain that we are a region that is going places.”

Communities Secretary Greg Clark said: "The Black Country Garden City symbolises the region’s ambition. It will deliver modern new housing that will be a magnet for business investment, notably in advanced manufacturing and construction, which will boost the local economy and supply the houses local families want."

The scheme is being showcased to potential investors at the massive MIPIM property festival in Cannes in the South of France this week.

If funding is forthcoming building work could get underway this year and the project, supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government - which would bring an £18billion boost to the local economy, would be completed by 2026.