Another £250,000 of council money is set to be ploughed into a road improvement project in a bid to hurry along new housing developments – after a cash grant from the government to pay for the work was delayed.

Last month, the Bucks Free Press revealed that the £19.5 million cash grant that Wycombe District Council (WDC) was promised from the government was hanging in the balance after it decided there should be a second stage of scrutiny of all successful bids for money.

The government was set to fund the £7.5 million realignment of Abbey Barn Lane and hand over £12 million for the Princes Risborough expansion area, it was announced in February – but last month, councillors agreed to spend £500,000 of their own money to get the Princes Risborough project going amid fears the promised cash could be taken away.

Now, WDC’s cabinet has agreed to release another £250,000 of the council’s cash to fund initial work for the Abbey Barn Lane work.

Although the council has got the government’s support for the project “in principle”, Cllr Alan Turner, planning deputy at WDC, said they need to show urgency to get both projects started in case the funding is taken away.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Monday night, he said: “If we don’t [get started] and we sit back and wait for a final decision from the government, it could be deemed as not being urgent and therefore doesn’t warrant a successful outcome. This will help prove we are determined with it and are working on it urgently.

“There is a slight risk we will fail, but by going forward with this it shows we’re serious, there is urgency and it will enable an earlier release of housing.

“We hear so often from residents that it is okay to have all this housing, but what about the infrastructure?

“This is a really important piece of the road infrastructure for High Wycombe and for the sites that are coming forward on Abbey Barn, this will be a real improvement to traffic flow and road safety.”

The £250,000 will be used to progress design work for the road realignment and establish a project team. 

Abbey Barn Lane will be realigned to make way for 700 homes in the area. Two reserve sites on Abbey Barn Lane – Abbey Barn North and South – were released for development by Wycombe District Council in 2014.

Abbey Barn North was tipped for around 100 homes, while Abbey Barn South could get more than 500.