Second performing arts venue approved for Redhill

By Chris Caulfield, Local Democracy Reporter, 1 July 2025

Plans for a second performing-arts and culture building in Redhill have been approved. Unit 5 of the recently completed Marketfield Way site will be converted into a new theatre space within the town centre.

It comes after £4.5million was agreed by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council’s executive to remove dangerous crumbly Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) from the closed Harlequin Theatre to have it back in public use by 2027.

Externally, Unit 5 will remain unchanged. Inside, it will be reshaped to create a stage and seating area, together with foyer, bar, dressing rooms and ticket area to bring “vitality and viability to the town centre and attracting custom, potentially during the daytime and evening”, the report presented to the 25 June planning committee read (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The change of use was proposed to provide an additional cultural facility within the town and address a gap in the area’s cultural and entertainment offerings – especially while the Harlequin remains closed.

Councillor Della Torra (Green, Earlswood & Whitebushes) told the committee she was pleased to see how the proposal had developed, adding: “Redhill is crying out for this at the moment.

“All the children who need this performance space, and parents not having to drive all the way to Leatherhead or Dorking. It’s going to be really well used and hopefully, as we now know The Harlequin will be rebuilt, reused, so it wont’ be a replacement – which was what our concerns were.”

While the plans were approved without a single vote against it, Cllr Michael Blacker (Con, Reigate) said he was not able to support them based on its design – and that it would be run as a competitor, rather than partner, of the Harlequin.

He said: “I certainly can’t vote for it. The community space has to be welcomed, anything that provides for our residents is to be welcomed, that is what we are here for, but this building has five columns in the middle of it. The way that it’s laid out, is not an ideal space.

“I really wanted it to be linked with the Harlequin because I didn’t want the two spaces to be in opposition. I wanted them to be complimentary but we are almost certainly not going to see the Harlequin open in the time of Reigate and Banstead council.”

The Harlequin Theatre closed in 2023 after RAAC was discovered throughout the building. The council shut the theatre’s doors immediately as a safety precaution before its executive finally agreed a path forward in June 2025.

RAAC can collapse without notice and the executive decided it was safer long term to remove it all from the site rather than reinforcing the roof as this would eliminate the problem once and for all. News of the Harlequin’s reopening was welcomed by the Theatre’s Trust.

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