A decision on whether Cornwall Council should provide £3million towards the Stadium for Cornwall will fall on the shoulders of all 123 members when they meet next month.

The council’s Cabinet considered the request from the Stadium for Cornwall partners for £6m towards the project when they met this morning.

However rather than provide the full amount requested the council is looking to give £3m with the other £3m coming from the Government.

That recommendation was on the table for the Cabinet to put forward to full council this morning. But instead of making any formal recommendation the Cabinet instead decided to defer the decision to full council.

The full council is set to meet on April 17 when it will make a decision on whether the funding should be granted.

Cabinet member Bob Egerton said that while he had previously had concerns about the project he was now happy that it was “the right thing to do” for the public sector to provide funding.

Mr Egerton said that Cornwall’s MPs had been working to secure approval from the Government of the other £3m required. He said that while there had been no formal indication they were confident that the money would be granted. He paid tribute to the county’s MPs for their work on the issue.

He said that the decision to be made by the council on April 17 would be a “simple yes or no decision”.

He said: “If the council does not support the proposed funding then this project will not happen.”

Cabinet member Geoff Brown said that he had consistently said that he could only support the stadium if funding was provided by the government.

However he said he was concerned that the current position on funding from the government was a “promise” and said he hoped that it would be a commitment by the time of the council meeting on April 17.

He said he welcomed the fact that the decision will be made by the full council: “This stadium will affect all of Cornwall’s residents, it is only right that all the divisional members have a say.”

Liberal Democrat Cabinet member Edwina Hannaford said that she could not support public funding going to the stadium.

She said that she felt that it was a stadium for Truro, for Truro and Penwith College, Truro City FC and the Cornish Pirates.

Mrs Hannaford said that she was not convinced that it would be for the community and said it was “too far” for many people in Cornwall to get any benefit or use from it.

She said that the council should be “holding the Conservative government and MPs to account” on the promise that money would be found for the project.

Truro councillor Bert Biscoe raised concerns about whether the park and ride could be used for the stadium as it was currently not operational in evenings or on Sundays when matches could be held.

He was also concerned about the detailed business plan and asked why it hadn’t been provided to the council in advance or when the funding request was made.

He said: “It is a good idea, but it is simply in the wrong place.”

Liberal Democrat councillor for Threemileston and Gloweth, Dulcie Tudor, welcomed the decision and said it would give the public the chance to let their local councillors know if they wanted them to support the stadium or not.

She said: “I’m pleased that the Council Cabinet have seen fit to defer the decision on Stadium funding to Full Council on April 17th. I am not all pleased that the proposal on the table will be £3m from the Council and £3m from the Government. A 50/50 funding share is simply not fair. Obviously the Govt. has much deeper pockets than the Council, especially in this climate of savage Govt. cuts to Council budgets. I know that myself and many of my fellow Councillors can think of many local sports clubs and organisations who could use money – right now – just to survive. £3m would help. I would say to people who may feel their views have not been taken into account up until now, you have 3 weeks to contact your local Councillor and let them know your view on the matter. Of course this also gives the Directors of the Stadium for Cornwall more time to address some of the questions from the public and Councillors particularly about the financial viability of the Stadium. I want to represent the views of the residents in my division, I just wish the choice I’m being asked to make was on a more level playing field.”

T