Cantley Park: Doncaster Mayor defends proposal to introduce charge at free Pitch and Putt after Tory challenge
The Mayor of Doncaster has defended proposals in her budget to introduce a charge for a currently free to use pitch and putt.
Mayor Ros Jones proposed introducing a fee for the Cantley Park Pitch and Putt as part of £4.4million of “savings” in her budget proposals published on February 3, 2026.
However, during a meeting of the Mayor’s cabinet on February 11, 2026, Jones was challenged by Conservative councillor Nick Allen, whose Bessacarr ward includes Cantley Park.
Cllr Allen said: “I have read in Item 10 of your Revenue Budget a proposal to charge a fee for using the Pitch and Putt scheme at Cantley Park. I am against introducing a fee to use this scheme. It’s one of a limited number of free services based in Bessacarr ward and is popular with its users.
“How much would the fee be, how will it be collected and is the revenue projection for the fee realistic?”
Mayor Jones defended the proposal, but said committed to reviewing it during the budget setting process.
She added: “We have faced over 14 years of Conservative austerity, and we have made incredibly difficult decisions over the years, to a point where we are identifying even small savings wherever possible to contribute towards meeting the service pressures, especially in relation to adults and childrens services.
“The proposal put forward by the service is based on a third party being brought in to run the service, however it could easily be operated in house.
“The service area deems the revenue projection as realistic, and the fee would be minimal.
“However, I am also aware of the developments taking place with England Golf and Disc Golf to increase usage of the facilities and I want to ensure we do everything we can to enable our residents to live happy and healthy lives.”
The Mayor said if the proposal was amended, it would be included in her budget proposals to full council on February 26, 2026.
Mayor Jones’ budget requires sign-off from full council and is one of the only decision areas where councillors have influence.
Since May 2025, the council has had a Reform UK majority, but due to the directly elected mayor system, power is retained by the Mayor and their cabinet. Labour’s Mayor Jones was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term as Mayor at the same time.
Following the publication of Mayor Jones’ budget, Cllr Craig Ward, leader of the Reform UK group, said his party would be putting forward its own “alternative budget”.
As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Ward said his party would not be proposing a 4.99 per cent council tax hike like the Mayor. However, the party admitted it had not yet submitted their proposal to council finance teams.