System to prevent building fiasco

Progress is being made in ensuring another fiasco, where Conwy Council spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on a shed it could not use, will not happen again.
Members of the county’;s audit committee will be updated on Monday (November 25) on the council’s action plan that was drawn up to the Mochdre Commercial Park spend.
In 2016 Conwy Council forked out £626,361 for a building at Mochdre Commerce Park to house its fleet of gritters and other lorries.
But after the authority had signed up for the deal it was found that the floor in the building could not support such a heavy load.
Since then an action plan was drawn up to prevent a similar situation arising.
As part of the plan the council followed five recommendations that were made to it by external solicitors.
These included a programme of training, a review of the council’s disposal and acquisition policy, clarification of respective roles of departments within the council in relation to property matters, a central system of all information about property and bringing in a failsafe checklist to sign-off on significant property related transactions prior to commitment.
The new processes which are being implemented by the council have been welcomed by its leader.
Conwy Council leader, Cllr Sam Rowlands, said: “It is re-assuring to see the good progress being made against the actions in relation to Mochdre Commerce Park activity. I welcome the audit and governance committee’s willingness to oversee this progress and look forward to any feedback.”

By Shane Brennan – Local Democracy Reporter