Newsletter - Tuesday 7 April, 2026

By David Grantham

In this issue: a ‘smaller scale’ Christmas show is on the cards for Redhill rather than the full Harlequin pantomime that some were hoping for this year, and the borough council has approved recommendations for new parish and town councils - including for Reigate and Redhill - but it turns out the decision will be down to the future East Surrey. More after news in brief.

News in brief

Borgo, the new Italian restaurant on Church Street, is due to open today (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Tuesday 7 April, at 5pm, where Banana Tree, and before that Café Rouge, used to be. The firm behind the new venture already runs the well-regarded Cucina in Oxted.

Five live acts - Leave it to Johnny, Auburn, The Quiet Horses, Forever Nowhere and Spinjunkie - appear at New Music Nights’ monthly session (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at Reigate Priory Football Club, this Friday evening, 10 April.

Brighton-based rock trio Honeybadger play at the next Mall Sessions (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at Redhill’s Belfry shopping centre this Saturday evening, 11 April, with Minifigure and Friday 66 also performing.

“Have your say on crime and policing” is the message from Surrey Police, with Policing Your Community roadshows taking place (Si apre in una nuova finestra) from May. The nearest one to us is on 7 July at Carrington School in Redhill, but there’s also an online one on 21 July.

Reigate town hall is the venue for an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, with two performances tomorrow, Wednesday 8 April. This is My Theatre says (Si apre in una nuova finestra): “Passion, mystery, and resilience collide in this sweeping story of self-discovery and courage, brought to life in a bold new adaptation - with traditional folk music woven throughout”.

Minimum wage rates rose from 1 April: £12.71 per hour for workers 21 and over, with other rates for younger workers. Details from the Government here (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Eleven drugs networks were dismantled in the county (Si apre in una nuova finestra) during a national County Lines Intensification Week in early March, Surrey Police say. (“County lines” refers to organised networks moving drugs between areas.) Separately, twelve men, some of them from Reigate and Redhill, were sent to prison (Si apre in una nuova finestra) after a recently concluded investigation into a Class A drug network operating in East Surrey and surrounds. County lines dealing is described as “one of the most complex challenges” facing Surrey Police and Sussex Police.

Reigate Priory Athletics Club member Tom Almond has been selected (Si apre in una nuova finestra) by Team GB to compete in the 100km world championships in Spain this September (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

‘Smaller scale’ Christmas show for Redhill instead of panto

Instead of a full pantomime this Christmas in Redhill, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council will explore options for a “smaller scale Christmas production” with whoever is appointed run the Harlequin theatre and the new Unit 5.

At recent council meetings, opposition councillors and others have been trying to get timelines for work at the Harlequin, which has been closed since September 2023 because of the presence of RAAC.

During a question at the most recent council meeting on 26 March, Cllr Mark Smith (Ind) said: “At previous full council meetings and overview & scrutiny committees, residents, user and community groups and members have been assured that work on the Harlequin Theatre would begin on site in June 2026, and that a pantomime would return to the Harlequin for Christmas 2026.”

Cllr Shelly Newton (Con), executive member for leisure and culture, said that a contractor has now been appointed to fix the theatre, and who will be named once contracts are fully signed. She said she could not give out dates for work until the programme had been agreed between the contractor and the design team (the Bailey Partnership).

Cllr Newton also told the meeting that the council is currently reviewing bids for the single operator who will run both the theatre and the future Unit 5 at the Rise (the council’s development which houses the Light), after which terms would be negotiated including community access and use.

Cllr Newton said she would not “speculate on dates until we’re in a position to do so with confidence”, but did give an update on this year’s pantomime: “Feedback we have received from the market through the operator procurement process indicates a preference for the return of the much-loved Harlequin Panto to be Christmas 2027, given the long lead-in time for pantomime productions. We will, however, work with the future operator, once appointed, to explore options for a smaller scale Christmas 2026 performance.”

Up until last summer the council had been suggesting reopening the theatre in the early part of 2027. However, at a 22 July meeting, Cllr Ben Green (Con), executive member for finance and assets, told the meeting that the date had been brought forward, and that “We are targeting reopening the Harlequin by Christmas 2026, and I invite you to hold us to that deadline”.

Parishes and towns agreed - but East Surrey will decide

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has approved plans to create new town and parish councils, but the decision will actually be down to the future East Surrey council after it becomes a “shadow authority” in May, something Reigate & Banstead only discovered in early March.

As things stand, on 26 March councillors approved the Community Governance Review recommendations (Si apre in una nuova finestra), which will create three new parish/town councils: Reigate Town Council (19 town councillors, five wards); Redhill Town Council (27 town councillors, nine wards); and Banstead & The Villages Council (27 parish councillors, ten wards).

The existing Horley Town Council will be rearranged so that there are 2o town councillors across seven wards, while Salfords & Sidlow Parish Council will stay unchanged with its 8 parish councillors and three wards.

Parish and town councils are the first tier of local government in the UK, typically running some local facilities (e.g. parks and allotments) and being a consultee (but not a decision-maker) on planning applications, as well as being civic bodies that can organise events - and arguably make a place feel more of a ‘place’ .

Reigate & Banstead was due a community governance review anyway, but there’s been an added drive to look at parish/town councils in light of the future merger of the borough with Surrey County Council, helping form the new East Surrey unitary authority.

Within Reigate & Banstead, 45 borough and 10 county councillors will eventually become just 20 East Surrey councillors, and worries about workloads and representation were mentioned by many borough councillors at the 26 March council meeting (Si apre in una nuova finestra), which overwhelmingly backed the parish/town recommendations.

Some councillors did highlight a lack of detail on how the councils will actually operate, and the effect on council tax (though this has historically been small - generating about 2% more council tax in Horley, for example).

The borough council held two rounds of public consultation on the plans, including sending a leaflet to every household, and the final recommendations appear broadly in line with what most respondents said they wanted.

In particular, 81% of Reigate, Redhill and Merstham residents who responded wanted at least one town council to cover their area.

However, when (and possibly if) the changes will happen is now in doubt. In the early part of March, Reigate & Bansted received legal advice that, with effect from 10 March, only the future East Surrey can take the decision to implement the plans.

Reigate & Banstead’s chief executive, Mari Roberts-Wood told the 26 March meeting: “This news was unexpected and an unanticipated consequence of two pieces of legislation clashing that was not recognised previously by the legislators nor relevant national bodies”.

She added that while the development was “disappointing” and impacted the next steps to deliver the plans, the meeting’s focus was on getting the recommendations ready for “potential implementation”.

Cllr Mark Johnston (Lib Dem) put the position in a less favourable light, saying: “the cock-up is ours, it’s no-one else’s”.

Stating that the relevant law dated from 2008, he contrasted the position with next-door Mole Valley who had held an extraordinary meeting on 9 March to approve their proposals: “they understood the legal risk in advance and they managed that, they mitigated it”.

But leader of the council, Cllr Richard Biggs (Con), spoke in support of the work that Reigate & Banstead had done. He said that he didn’t think “with everything that the unitary authority will have to do”, they would have provided officer time for the review. He said: “That was in our gift. We've done it, and now I think we should make sure that we provide the best to the unitary going forward.”

If East Surrey does approve the new town and parish councils, elections for those bodies might still happen in May 2027, as the borough had been planning.

As for East Surrey itself, elections (Si apre in una nuova finestra) take place a little over a month away, on Thursday 7 May. East Surrey will then operate as a shadow authority until stepping up to its full powers in April 2027 when Reigate & Banstead and Surrey County Council will be abolished.

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