The Joint Committee was first formed in 1974 to guide the development of Rother Valley Country Park since the area straddled the borders of Yorkshire and Derbyshire and 5 different local Authorities.

The 5 original members were:-

Sheffield City Council

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

South Yorkshire County Council

Derbyshire County Council

North East Derbyshire District Council

The corporate objective of the committee was:-

'To create an easily accessible park offering a safe and attractive land and water based environment which will cater for a wide range of countryside and recreation activities, available to a broad cross section of the community at both the local and regional level and the conservation of such resources for present and future generations.'

These authorities continued to manage and fund the park until 1986 when the abolition of South Yorkshire County Council reduced their numbers to 4. At this point Rotherham Borough Council became the lead authority for the park responsible for the employment of staff, negotiation of contracts and other services.

The Joint Committee continued on overseeing the development and running of the park, Rotherham and Sheffield each providing 40% of the annual budget, with the Derbyshire councils providing the remaining 20%.

This situation continued until 1992 when Sheffield City Council, its budget under strain from the Student Games, cut its contribution to the park in half before withdrawing completely in 1994. This, coupled with local government boundary changes led to the withdrawal of funding from the Derbyshire councils and the end of the Joint Committee in 1995.

Today the park is entirely within the boundaries of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council which is now solely responsible for the funding and running of the site.