PLANS to dredge the duck pond at Boscawen Park look set to be finalised by Truro City Council over the next few weeks, thanks to funding from the Truro Town Deal programme.

The whole pond was last dredged in 1995, and a large amount of silt has built up since, reducing the level of water available to ducks, swans and other wildlife.

The council has issued a tender for the project and is currently waiting for responses from interested contractors, with the aim of work beginning in early November.

Parks, amenities and facilities officer Richard Budge said: “The duck pond is fed into two tributaries, one from a nearby farm and the other from the New Cemetery fields.

“The pond has a silt trap designed to collect material washed down from the valley. The trap was last emptied around 12 years ago, with significant levels of silt building up since then, especially at the far end of the pond.

“This means that the ducks swimming into this part of the pond can find themselves standing on top of mud.”

The silt has also reduced the capacity of the pond to help manage flood risk at times of heavy rain and high tides. The team has to open a sluice gate manually to prevent Boscawen Park and nearby properties from being flooded by water rushing down the valley.

Dredging options range from using excavators to dig out the silt, to bringing in specialist machinery to stir up the material on the bottom and pump it into slurry tankers.

The pond is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including moorhens, swans, a nesting heron and even terrapins, which were released in the past without permission.

Mr Budge said protecting the wildlife during the dredging process was a “top priority”, with all those submitting tenders required to carry out an ecology survey as part of the process.

Once the pond has been dredged, around 16,000 cubic metres of silt and mud will need to be disposed of, possibly by using it as top dressing on the organic farmland it came from.

Repair work will also be carried out on the edges of the pond, and a secondary pipe could be put in place to transfer excess water directly into the river, reducing the amount of silt coming into the pond during flood weather.

The work is part of the wider Truro Town Deal-funded and city council-led Boscawen Park Sports Hub Project to provide a new multi-use building with an area for indoor sports activities, shower and changing facilities, and spaces for community activities.

A planning application is due to be submitted later this year, with the building expected to open its doors by March 2026.