Digger at Isle of Wight's Big Mead pond to remove mud and silt

Shanklin town councillor Adrian Whittaker says a digger is now onsite, and it is estimated more than 300 tons of mud and silt will be removed over the next couple of days. 

He said: "It has been a privilege to work on this project in association with Isle of Wight Council and Shanklin Town Council.

"Work started at the beginning of May to locate the water source that had been disconnected.

"Myself and a group of volunteers have spent many hours working on pipes and shingle beds.

"We aim to get the water back in the Big Mead for the first week of August.

"I would personally like to thank all the volunteers and everyone who has donated to the GoFundMe.

"Without this, the project would never have started."

Two weeks ago, the community rallied round to save 152 fish from the pond, which is losing water and was starved of oxygen during a heatwave. 

Due to the extreme heat, plans to temporarily move the fish were moved forward, and a call went out for volunteers to step in and help.

Read more: 

• Isle of Wight pond fundraiser as fish rescued by volunteers

Cllr Whittaker said there were three landowners involved and some very old iron pipework, but a solution had been worked out.

The water going to the pond is viable, it just struggles to get there.

Just shy of £2,000 is needed to carry out the work, and a fundraising page was set up to raise the money.

The fundraising link can be found by clicking here.