The costs for fixing Porth Eirias’ roof, which leaked from new, have been revealed and they are far short of the £682,428 requested in February.

Back then Conwy county councillors were asked to approve the figure to replace the waterproof membrane which protects the Colwyn Bay waterfront building’s roof and some internal “ancillary works”.

At the time Cllr Andrew Wood (Gele ward) said the public would “not be too chuffed” they were being asked to pick up the bill, considering it had leaked since it was built in 2013.

Councillors were told “it was not an option” to leave the roof because it would cause further damage.

It emerged the council had investigated legal routes for clawing back the cost of the defective membrane but “had been advised” it wasn’t worth the effort.

A report presented to councillors at today’s (Monday) finance and resources scrutiny committee said: “Following construction in 2013, the roof was found to be leaking in five locations and a specialist was engaged to establish the cause of the leaks.

“It was established the failure was in specifying the appropriate waterproofing solution, which was the responsibility of the Architect (who) designed the building and it was estimated that it would cost £490K to remove and replace the entire roof.

“However, a more cost effective solution was recommended to deal with each leak independently.”

After a public outcry at the supposed costs cabinet apparently intervened and costs for the “internal reconfiguration” dropped to £73,600 and the quote for fixing the roof had reduced to around £40,000 – but it didn’t end there.

Speaking to the committee head of the authority’s environment roads and facilities department, Geraint Edwards, revealed the true cost of keeping water out of the leaky building.

Having recently spent £29,743 “opening up and waterproofing the roof above the main entrance” it meant the council had spent around £7,000-per-year on remedial works to stop the leaks.

Mr Edwards said he wanted to “remove this phrase of temporary repairs” to the roof, as they were permanent.

He said the repairs had taken longer than anticipated because they had been forced to wait for materials to be delivered to effect them.

Councillors backed a plan to fix leaks as and when they appeared and to shelve the two-thirds of a million pound scheme to replace the defective roof.