£2m bin lorry depot empty because floor is too weak

Costs could escalate to at least £3.6m by the first chance to break the lease in 2031

Millions have been spent on a depot for gritters and bin lorries which remains empty because the floor is too weak.

Conwy council signed a 35-year lease for three business park units near Colwyn Bay in 2016.

The contract for building started in May of that year, and the local authority has so far spent £2m - costing taxpayers around £20,000 a month.

Conwy council has been asked to comment.

The floor at Mochdre Commerce Park was found to be not strong enough for the vehicles, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But when this came to light, the council was already tied in to paying £240,000 a year in rent.

The cost to the local authority could increase to at least £3.6m by the first chance to break the lease in 2031.

It has also spent almost £300,000 seeking legal advice related to the lease.

Tory Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders requested information on the council's spending through the Freedom of Information Act.

She described the situation as a "disgrace" and called for those accountable to be held responsible.

She added: “When you think that the situation for the beleaguered Conwy County Borough Council couldn’t get any worse, we now discover that they have been paying hundreds of thousands for legal advice on a lease they are, eight years on, still signed up to."

A legal dispute continues between Conwy council and landlords R.R Sea Strand Limited, although the initial lease was taken out with Conygar Investment Company PLC, LDRS reported.

Conwy council has been contacted for a comment.

In a previous statement in 2021, a spokeswoman for the local authority admitted the lease "had not been subject to the same governance process" as with other major contracts and they were continuing to negotiate with the owner of the site over the lease.