Cornwall Council looks set to offer £3million towards the Stadium for Cornwall with the hope that the other £3m it asked for will be provided by the Government.

The team behind the planned stadium, which would provide a home for the Cornish Pirates and Truro City and facilities for Truro and Penwith College and be located near Threemilestone, had gone to the council earlier this year asking for £6m towards the project.

They said that it was the only way they could secure the funding needed so that work could start this year and for the stadium to be ready for the 2019/20 season.

It had previously been thought that funding for the stadium would come from the joint partners and through a retail development which was planned close to the site.

However, with those plans stalled the stadium partners looked to secure public funding to get the project underway. Cornwall Council had previously stated that it would not provide funding but, after the request, said it would consider it and put any decision to a vote of the full council.

Ahead of that vote, a recommendation will be made by the council’s ruling Cabinet, which is made up of members from the Liberal Democrat and Independent groups.

A report on the issue has now been published and suggests that the Cabinet recommends that the council gives £3m to the stadium with the remainding £3m being provided by the Government.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron had pledged to support the stadium with money, and the stadium partners and the council have been in discussions with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as well as Secretary of State Matt Hancock to try to get government support.

The report to Cabinet states: “It is considered that the project as described in this report brings a much wider economic and social benefit to Cornwall and that there is a good case for public investment to recommend to members.

“Whilst the ask from the project partners is for up to £6m, the recommendation is that this is co-funded if possible with central government support. This follows on from the dialogue with central government colleagues in 2016 and recognises the importance of this scheme to the region.”

The money provided by the council would be used for phase one of the Stadium for Cornwall which would see a 6,000-capacity stadium built including a 4,200-seat west stand which would also provide conference, business and function facilities.

Work has also been done to incorporate a health and fitness centre which the council says would be run by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), which is already responsible for leisure centres across Cornwall.

The report states that any funding provided by the council would be for the construction of the stadium and, if approved, “no further public funding will be available for the project”. This includes any additional construction costs and any running costs.

It adds: “Whilst the business case developed for operating the stadium is based on a number of conservative assumptions and is based on the successful model used at similar stadiums elsewhere, it forecasts that the stadium will cover its annual operating costs in all but the most pessimistic scenario. Even in this scenario the losses are forecast to be small. In order to ensure that the stadium will operate without any public subsidy, the partners will enter into an agreement with the council to underwrite any operating losses incurred.”

The council has also stated that if it goes ahead the council would retain a parcel of land which is not required for the operation of the stadium.

If the council does agree to provide the funding it would come from the economic development match fund.

The Cabinet will consider the report on Wednesday, March 28. If agreed by the Cabinet then the final decision will be made at a meeting of the full council on April 17.

Conservative St Ives MP Derek Thomas said that while Cornwall’s MPs would support the council’s call for Government funding for the stadium it was a long way from being granted.

He said: “There is no announcement from the Government yet on this funding. All that has happened is that these papers have been published for the Cabinet meeting next week.

“I have been doing some work on this since the beginning of January when the council was first approached for the £6million. There was a conversation with David Cameron to make it happen and we want to help that.

“But until this week we didn’t have a real proposal come forward until the retail development was taken out.

“Because it is much more of a community stadium than was originally envisaged the Cornish MPs are prepared to support it now.

“We have had a number of meetings with the Treasury and the Chancellor. All the council has had from the Government is an invitation to submit a the business case for funding.

“There has been no formal response from the Government because that business case is only now being published. While we will be supporting that it will take some time before any announcement will be made as to whether that funding will be made available from the Government.”