Photo credit:  Reigate and Banstead Borough Council

An intrusive survey report on the condition of The Harlequin Theatre in Redhill has concluded it must remain closed. 

The building has been closed since September 2023 following the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete or RAAC.

The report, commissioned by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, has shown that almost every panel in the roof and areas of the internal floor have been classified as a critical risk.   Council Leader, Councillor Richard Biggs says indicative costs are “in the region of £10,000,000 to remove and remediate the RAAC and refurbish the theatre to bring it back into use”.  The Council will work through the implications of the findings with the head leaseholder.

The next steps for the provision of art and culture in the borough will be discussed at the Council’s Executive meeting in January. 

In February this year Jim was given the news that he had Prostate Cancer. After getting over the initial shock, he said “the first thing was to be positive and focus on getting well”.

The treatment consisted of a six-week course of External Beam Radiotherapy, which sounded a lot scarier than it is. Each session took around fifteen minutes and was not as bad as he first thought.

Jim’s advice is everyone should get a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test from your doctor, because by doing this you can get up to a 90% chance of catching anything early which is a good thing.

He added, “My thanks go out to all the radiologists at The Charing Cross Hospital who have been wonderful. Don’t leave it too late to get yourself checked – do it today”!

We at the news team in Susy Radio would like to say well done Jim and we wish you the very best for the future.

Jim Richman rings the bell following completing his cancer treatment.