{"id":466167,"date":"2026-03-09T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/466167\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:04:09","slug":"swans-stuck-after-nottinghamshire-pond-decimated-by-council-wildlife-charity-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/466167\/","title":{"rendered":"Swans stuck after Nottinghamshire pond ‘decimated’ by council, wildlife charity says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A council said the drainage would be better for the environment in the long run\"The<\/p>\n

The drainage has led to some swans and ducks becoming stuck(Image: Cheryl Martins)<\/p>\n

A Nottinghamshire<\/a> wildlife charity has accused a council of “decimating” the habitat around a pond by draining it during nesting season.<\/p>\n

A body of water at Pleasley Vale Business Park was emptied by Bolsover District Council (BDC) almost two weeks ago as part of what it said was a “major programme of improvement works”.<\/p>\n

Concerns have been raised about the timing of the move, which coincides with the beginning of the bird nesting season<\/a> and the migration of frogs and toads.<\/p>\n

Cheryl Martins, who runs Mansfield<\/a> Wildlife Rescue, said it was “heartbreaking to see” the barren bed, which has led to some swans and ducks becoming stuck.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s totally decimated down there. I can\u2019t get my head round why they\u2019ve done it at this time of year,” said the 57-year-old.<\/p>\n

“I know these works need to be done, but the biggest concern is they\u2019ve not stuck to current guidelines.”<\/p>\n

Bolsover council said specialist ecologists and environmental contractors were carrying out the works, which are the second phase of a programme aimed at improving biodiversity and reducing the risk of flooding.<\/p>\n

The authority’s leader, Jane Yates, said the works had “brilliantly” struck the balance of the needs of both residents and wildlife.<\/p>\n

However, Ms Martins said the pond’s drainage had effectively destroyed the habitat, leading to an increase in calls to her charity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of calls about it, which means it\u2019s causing concern. We\u2019ve had dog walkers calling, saying they\u2019re distraught at seeing how the swans and ducks are,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to lose a full year of new baby swans and ducks. The fish have disappeared, and I don\u2019t know where they\u2019ve gone.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The pond was drained almost two weeks ago(Image: Cheryl Martins)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a bare, barren island with three trees on it. There are a few little streams coming down, but no substantial water in which they can swim.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong term, it may recover, but it will take a while. It\u2019s all got to grow back. Short term it\u2019s affecting the bird nesting season. Sadly, the damage has been done.”<\/p>\n

Cllr Yates, leader of BDC, said: \u201cIt is vitally important that we balance the needs of the environment with the needs of our tenants and users of the mills. The course of action taken has struck that balance brilliantly and I believe the outcome will be beneficial to all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authority said the works, which also include repairs to a dam wall and vegetation clearance, will “provide significant enhancements to the ecology and biodiversity around the site”.<\/p>\n

“The long-term plan for the water course is to ensure future wildlife thrives around the site,” it said.<\/p>\n

“…investment into these improvements will help protect the businesses and residents based at Pleasley Vale and the surrounding areas from the impacts of extreme weather<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A council said the drainage would be better for the environment in the long run The drainage has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1397,79469,15257,90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-466167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-environment","tag-mansfield","tag-nottinghamshire","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}