A TOWN mayor is furious as within a week of £200,000 town hall repairs, the building has flooded due to heavy rainfall.

Before the work started, building owners Allerdale council said it would not have the means to tackle a damp problem but went ahead with the renovation of the ground floor of the Maryport Town Hall, which was paid for out of the town's Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) regeneration funding.

Town mayor, Peter Kendall, said he was furious even before Tuesday's rain caused more damage.

He presented Monday night's council with a list of complaints: 

  • Damp on the walls of the old front door
  • Damp on the walls and redecorated kitchen walls are damaged by damp
  • No repairs to store cupboard which is soaking wet
  • The recently redecorated walls in hallway by the emergency exit it have been damaged by the damp and the carpet is soaked
  • Two toilets have been replaced by one with 'cheap' fittings and a leaking pipe
  • Water is leaking through the feature stain-glass windows on the first landing

Mr Kendall also pointed out that no repair work had been done beyond the ground floor and the council chambers were still showing signs of damp and growing mould.

Cllr Stephen Ashworth said that Allerdale, as the landlord, has a 'duty of care' to ensure that the council room is fit for purpose.

"At the moment it is not," he said. "It is a health hazard for anyone with any lung condition."

Mr Kendall also expressed concern that HAZ money had paid for the refurbishment "when I have been told of businesses on Senhouse Street who have been unable to get help to do up their shop fronts because the pot has run dry."

An Allerdale spokesman said the council had to spend the £200,000 within a certain time or it would have been lost.

"We would then see it spent in some other town," they said. "I recognise that the damp is a problem.

"We need scaffolding and there are issues with the building next door. I do believe, though, that we have created a building that the town will appreciate."

On the HAZ money being spent, they added: "The council applied to spend money on certain projects and the town hall was one of them. It was not part of the £190,000 to do up shop fronts.

"I hope that people will recognise that we have created a vastly improved asset for Maryport."