Newsletter - Wed 3 Apr, 2024

By David Grantham

This newsletter is in a slightly new format, with the hope of making the “in brief” items a bit easier to read than the former bullet points.

As for today’s “in detail” piece, this is on the Harlequin and its reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) problem, which came up at a council meeting I attended last week. There’s no reopening date for the theatre, but there is confirmation that the borough thinks the problem is more complicated than that faced by Surrey at the adjoining Redhill library, owing to the theatre’s design and location of the RAAC panels.

Following a decision by Surrey’s cabinet last week (Opens in a new window), eighty-four properties in Reigate that have flooded in the past, or are reckoned to be at high risk of doing so in the future, are set to benefit from flood resilience improvements.   The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures include flood doors, removeable flood barriers, non-return valves, and air brick covers.

The aim of the Reigate Flood Alleviation Scheme is to both minimise the impact of flooding and cut the time and cost of restoration.  The cost will be £1.29 million, with £990,000 of that coming from the Environment Agency and the remainder from Surrey County Council.  Completion is expected in the 2026-2027 financial year.

Southern and Thameslink services will be affected by a strike on Monday 8 April.  There’s also an overtime ban from tomorrow, Thursday 4 April, until Saturday 6 April (inclusive), and then again on Tuesday 9 April.  More information on a GTR page (Opens in a new window), which advises checking timetables on journey planners - the National Rail one is here (Opens in a new window).

• Image supplied by Network Rail over the weekend

Staying with trains, the line that runs between Redhill and Tonbridge is shut until at least the end of next week (14 April).

After repeated track defects caused by movement of the underlying embankment on a section of the route, most recently over the Easter weekend, Network Rail is now looking at more substantial works to address the underlying causes.

A replacement bus service is operating between Redhill and Tonbridge.   The size of the bus means it can’t call at Nutfield station, so it’s stopping instead at Nutfield Memorial Hall.  There is however an additional minibus service between Nutfield station and Redhill.  Details and alternative routes are here (Opens in a new window).

Mark Killick, Network Rail’s engineering and asset management director, apologised for the disruption and said: “The work that we are doing now will leave this line in a much better and more reliable state for the future.

"In recent months we’ve seen extreme levels of rain, including the wettest February in this part of the country for 200 years. This has put stress on parts of our infrastructure, particularly earthworks. We are working on site now to understand the cause and full extent of the problem and we will share more updates as soon as we can on how long we expect this repair work to take”.

A fund raising page for the 17th Reigate (St Joseph’s) Scout Group has been set up, after their minibus was taken on Thursday 28 March and found burnt-out but with its engine removed.  “Now the search for a new minibus begins, and the funds needed to cover any shortfall between what the insurance company pays out and what a new minibus will cost us, plus the additional security to try and prevent any future damage or theft,” the fundraising page (Opens in a new window) says.

New Music Nights’ monthly event takes place this Friday evening, 5 April, at Reigate Priory FC, offering the chance to hear original live music.  On the bill are The Collective, Joe and Jude, Lines, and Nina.   The event poster and more details are on reigate-uk’s What’s On page (Opens in a new window).

NMN (Opens in a new window) has announced that their annual summer event, New Music Fest, will this year become the Reigate Summer Festival, celebrating local efforts in all the arts.  So as well as live music, there’ll be dance, drama, film, poetry, literature, art and comedy on the weekend of 14-15 June.   More details are expected this week.

Surrey Police have issued a witness appeal after two men in their 40s were seriously assaulted in Reigate on Saturday night (30 March).  Officers were called to the Beehive pub, in Dovers Green Road, Woodhatch, at around 10.30pm, “following reports of an altercation between a group of around eight people”.

Police said on Sunday that a 28-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and had been released on conditional bail. 

Anyone with information that could help the investigation is asked to contact police, quoting reference PR/45240036014, using the contact details listed here (Opens in a new window).

Harlequin RAAC situation “significantly more complex” than at library