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A council has spent more than £3million on an unusable HGV depot with a floor not strong enough to hold the vehicles – despite warning of a funding black hole.
Conwy County Borough Council took on a contract for building the warehouse in the village of Mochdre, in north Wales, in 2016 to store its 157 bin lorries and gritters.
But the enormous structure has never been used as the local authority later discovered the floor was too weak to support the heavy goods vehicles.
By then, the council was already locked into a 35-year lease on the building, until 2031, when the agreement could be broken.
In the meantime, taxpayers are stuck footing the £240,000-a-year-rent bill.
And new figures, obtained by Freedom of Information (FOI) request, have shown with five years still to go, the cost of this white elephant has already skyrocketed.
At least £3.2million has been poured into the project so far, including an eye-watering £700,000 on consulting fees alone, according to the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service.
On top of the £703,735 for 'specialist consultants', the local authority has spent £2,233,330 on rent, £290,574 on legal costs, and £273,379 on maintenance.
Conwy County Borough Council took on a contract for building the warehouse (pictured) in 2016 to store its 157 bin lorries and gritters
The council has also forked out £155,263 on utilities and some £216,437 on mysteriously described 'other' costs.
It insisted the building has also brought in £629,031 in income.
Regardless, it means the useless depot has come at a staggering price of at least £3,243,687 so far – with the actual total likely to be higher.
Council officers refused to answer other cost-related queries submitted as part of the FOI request, arguing the sums were too expensive and time-consuming to calculate.
Unanswered questions include the price of storing the council's HGVs elsewhere.
This extravagant spending comes despite the council's own admission earlier this month it faces a several million pound shortfall in its 2026-27 budget.
The estimated black hole is £5.632million, according to Councillor Chris Cater, Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Planning.
He said: 'Consequently, a significant contribution will be needed from an increase in Council Tax.'
This emptiness in the council's coffers may come as a surprise to residents, who have suffered three consecutive years of ten per cent council tax hikes to foot growing local bills.
And local officials have warned this is set to become four, with further cuts to public services also expected as the council tightens its belt.
But the local authority blamed a nationwide crisis in local government funding for the financial pressure, rather than its own budgetary decisions.
'It is evident that local government across the UK is subject to significant pressure, and there have been a number of councils who have issued a Local Government and Finance Act 1988 section 114 notice, which essentially declares the council 'bankrupt', a report put before its finance committee stated.
'Whilst a number of the high-profile cases have had poor financial management at their heart, it is increasingly evident that other well-run councils are now facing significant issues as a result of the lack of funding being directed to local government. This is a risk that Conwy also faces.'
The full council is set to meet on March 5 to finalise and agree the budget and council tax rates for this year.
Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders said the HGV depot was an 'absolute waste of money' in such tight times, calling the situation a 'shambles'.
It is a particular blow, the Conservative Senedd member said, ahead of council tax hikes – which she claimed have, in recent years, been 'the highest in Wales'.
But the enormous structure, in the village of Mochdre (pictured, file photo), north Wales, has never been used as the local authority later discovered the floor was too weak to support the heavy goods vehicles
Phil Ashe, a Conservative councillor in nearby Colwyn Bay, similarly dubbed the excessive spending 'scandalous', especially amid cuts to public services.
'On top of that, they clearly did not need this unit, as they managed to store the vehicles elsewhere. Why did they sign up for this in the first place?,' he said.
'What else are they wasting? They are not transparent whatsoever. They need to be held to account over it.'
Conwy council leader Julie Fallon said earlier this month she shared local concerns – but that ongoing legal proceedings limited what could be publicly discussed.
The independent representative also noted court processes were outside the local authority's control.
The depot is built on land previously occupied by three business park units at Mochdre Commerce Park.
It was initially leased from Conygar Investment Company PLC but the landlord is now R.R Sea Strand Limited, who the council is in an ongoing legal dispute with.
A spokesperson for Conwy County Borough Council said: 'The Council is not able to comment on a matter that is the subject of ongoing litigation.'
In a previous statement, in 2021, a spokesperson for the local authority said the lease 'had not been subject to the same governance process' as other major contracts.
They added at the time the council was continuing to negotiate with the site owner about the agreement.