Anger over 'stinking' algae in boating lake

Bruce Carpenter says he had not been able to run his boat hire business for the past five weeks because of the algae

An algae bloom on a boating lake is causing problems for residents and a business owner - who says he has not been able to trade for five weeks.

The boating lake at Trenance in Newquay has become covered with green algae bloom, which business tenant Bruce Carpenter said was the result of sustained high temperatures.

Mr Carpenter, who runs Trenance Boat Hire, said he had had to stop trading for five weeks because the algae had become "more vicious than it's ever been".

The Environment Agency said the sluice gates between the lake and the River Gannel could not be opened to address the problem as it would impact marine wildlife and the quality of bathing water at nearby beaches.

One resident says people do not want to visit anymore because the lake "stinks"

Mr Carpenter said: "We need more control of what comes into the lake, a solution rather than a quick fix of lake management."

He said he had manually cleaned the 1.5-acre (0.6-hectare) lake but the algae kept returning.

"There must be a solution, but I don't know what it is," he added.

A resident who said she had walked her dog around the lake for the past 10 years said the sluices used to be opened to flush the lake out, which meant algae did not bloom.

She said: "It's so sad and it stinks, a lot of people don't want to come down here now because it smells so bad.

"The algae clogs everything up, the lake needs dredging."

Another of the town's resident said algae blooms had been a regular issue.

He said: "In 20 years, it's always been a problem with the lake.

"It has been cleaned, scraped and drained to no effect."

The lake has previously been dredged

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "Discharging saline water from the River Gannel into the freshwater Trenance Stream would impact wildlife, particularly fish, the Marine Conservation Zone and Crantock bathing water.

"As such a permit to open the sluice gate is not likely to be granted but we have advised the council on other ways to remove the weed without causing environmental impact, including sediment dredging."