STORMY weather caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to two council owned buildings.

Both the Paget Rooms and the Kymin have suffered storm damage cause by high winds and heavy rain.

Last month (January 9) high winds blew off one of the metal air vents from the Paget Rooms main roof, whilst in December last year a tree fell on to the Kymin House roof causing damage to the slates, weather board, guttering and drain pipes.

Action has been taken to carry out a temporary repair to the roof of the Paget Rooms to prevent ingress of water, but scaffolding is set to be erected so that a roofing company can carry out a full assessment as to the extent of the damage and the scope for repair.

A town clerk report, presented to Penarth councillors last night (February 19), said that the green air vent was “damaged beyond repair” and would probably have to be replaced in its entirety.

“It is anticipated that a minimum of several thousand pounds of expenditure will be necessary, but other than the excess this will be recovered under the terms of the council’s insurance policy,” the report said.

It added that the insurers had been made aware of the Grade II listing of the building.

The report added that on December 18 last year a mature Elm tree fell on to Kymin House causing damage to the roof slates, weather board, guttering and drain pipes.

The tree, which was on the bank above the retaining wall to the rear of Kymin House, hit the roof above the first floor of the extension that contains the upstairs toilet.

One person, who was there at the time, said they heard an “almighty crash” when it came down, and that the tree trunk and branches took up the whole of the courtyard at the rear of the building.

The report added that the damage was caused by branches as the tree fell and scrapped down the side of the extension.

The Vale council, which owns and insures the building, was unable to immediately send a tree surgeon to remove the fallen tree, but sent a tree officer to determine whether the tree posed any further danger.

The town council appointed a tree surgeon to remove the tree the following day at a cost of £550. It was found that one of the roots had rotted and along with high winds has caused the tree to fall.

Once the tree was removed an emergency building repair team from the Vale council attended the site and carried out repairs to prevent any further water ingress and secure the roof pending reinstatement. The cost for this service was £327.52.

The Vale council required two quotations for the reinstatement of the roof and authorised acceptance of the lowest quote of £1,305. Penarth town council has paid for all the works associated with the incident, but all costs will be reimbursed by the Vale council.

The roof slates have now been replaced, but work is still to be completed on the weather board, cast iron guttering and drain pipes

Penarth councillors noted the town clerk report during the leisure and amenities committee meeting on Thursday, February 19.