Council golf courses to close as part of budget crunch

Golf facilities at three council-run courses are to close as part of budget cuts.

As Wakefield Council looks to save another £15 million, the ‘pay and play’ activities at Pontefract Park are to close, including golf and fishing.

This is in addition to the Wakefield’s Thornes Park, where the tennis, public bowls, putting and golf will stop and Springmill Golf Course, in Ossett, where the golf provision will also cease. All will stop from April 1.

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Coun Maureen Cummings, cabinet member for environment and communities said: “With such huge cuts to our budget we are now at a point where our services are under threat, with the majority being reduced and some, like our pay and play activities, stopping all together.

“I understand that some people will be disappointed, but we are having to make some very difficult decisions.

“Looking after the district’s green spaces and parks is very important to us and we will continue to do everything we can to maintain them.”

People can still access these of the areas but they will no longer be looked after to the standard needed for sport.

The tennis nets will remain up at Thornes Park but will not be maintained or replaced.

The council is now considering the future options for each of the areas affected.