Culdrose volunteers to help clear Helston boating lake blanket weed

Over the past few weeks, people visiting Helston’s Boating Lake and Coronation Park have commented on the excessive amount of blanket weed coverage.

Now members of the community, including volunteers from RNAS Culdrose, are to join park staff in an attempt to clear it. 

The lake, which is managed by the community interest company South Kerrier Alliance, is home to hundreds of wild birds including swans, ducks, geese, and rare birds.

It also welcomes visitors, locals, and families all year round, and during the summer months members of the public can hire pedalos and rowing boats from the boat hire hut and sail around the lake.

Over half of the lakes surface is covered in blanket weed (Image: Dee Perry)

However, the lake has recently become covered in a thick layer of ‘blanket weed’.

It had been feared the coverage would start to affect the wildlife at the lake – including the newly hatched baby ducklings which have been seen covered in the weed.

Blanket weed is a type of algae, scientifically called filamentous algae. It is natural, on rare occasions can be harmful to fish and wildlife. It is also a beneficial fertiliser for the garden after being rotten down in compost. 

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A fountain was put in place in the middle of the lake a few years ago, to help clear the blanket weed, but according to reports this week, one of the birds at the lake has built a nest on top of it, preventing it from working properly.

Park volunteers attempt to clear the blanket weed on Wednesday (May 17)

Now, members of the community including volunteers from RNAS Culdrose will join staff, park volunteers and the park keeper to clear the weed to able the wildlife to swim freely. 

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A member of the local Root Training Community Interest Company took to Facebook on Tuesday (May 14) to ask where she could find out more information for members of the group to help clear the blanket week. She said: “We feel that by doing our bit for the environment and the community of Helston we could help in some way.”

The weed being cleared from the lake in the last few days (Image: SKA)

David Turnbull from South Kerrier Alliance Community Interest Company (SKA), which has a 99-year lease to run the park comments: ‘We are looking at ways in which the algae can be prevented from growing so quickly, but all have a significant cost.

"If anyone is willing to work with us to find a long-term solution and help raise the necessary funding please contact us via the Coronation Park Helston Facebook page."