Councillor Rich Michalowski
Appearances
The Planet Reigate Podcast
49: Our report on the big Harlequin meeting and the Morris Men’s group which may not dance to see 100 years… and more
Redhill, by its virtue of its central position and accessibility, continues to be the ideal location for such an offering. I feel for those who have worked at the Harlequin, through absolutely no fault of their own, they'll be the most impacted should we support the recommended option.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
49: Our report on the big Harlequin meeting and the Morris Men’s group which may not dance to see 100 years… and more
Tonight, the role of this executive is to focus on what is in the best interests of the borough, which includes Redhill, and I trust that's what we will do.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
the Harlequin, what lessons have we got that we can learn and what information have we got from the refurbishment of the library that will help to bring some of these timescales that are being asked for into some sort of reality?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
What could we do? What could we learn? And what could we learn about the financing from that?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Councillor Blacker, I was fortunate enough via the leader to have a team's meeting with the structural engineers and surveyors who were about to carry out the, or had started the report on the Harley Quinn. And the one thing that I noted was that rack concrete or the rack planks are aerated, which means they're full of holes, which makes them lighter.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
But it also makes them extremely vulnerable to water penetration. And the one thing that came out of that meeting was that our roof covering appears to be sound and not leaking. So I think that should give us a better chance of not having to do a complete roof replacement. Bearing that in mind, we've got a 10 million figure that's been bandied about.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
But I note that there is a community infrastructure levy amount of money 1,748,000. So is that figure... included in the £10 million, or is it above it? Is it extra to it?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
It's been 15 months till we got the survey for the rack for the Harley Quinn. How long, like, it's going to take? Because then you're going to look for the bill, like, whoever going to take the walk. So we are not having for another three years any place, temporary place for how many people will you have it? Do you think three years we are not going to have any art centre?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
My concern is that if we don't have a large-scale provision over that time frame, there'll be nothing left of our arts community for us to build a theatre for. There's also a very significant cost, not just financially, but community-based as well, and the wider extended community.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
financial cost of our economy in Redhill to not having that provision for those three to five years and also having it disappear because everyone's given up and gone somewhere else?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
So can I confirm that we are going to consider a 500-seater option?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Councillor Essex. Six or seven years. is the time it takes to go through the whole of secondary. So that's like a generation of potential for participation in the arts. So that's the kind of delay we're talking about here. And if you value that at £2 million a year, because that's the temporary value cost you're working on, then the delay so far has cost the council £2.5 million.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
I really would like the big top-line promises, like you've just said, to be backed up by full refurbishment cost in there and a full temporary venue cost in there.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
My concern is if we try to have the perfect most cost effective refurbishment without actually getting even a half decent 500 seat of venue between now and then, what use is that if we waste away our arts and culture that's been thriving for so long in the meantime? Maybe better to have something that's less cost effective in the long term that could be delivered a little bit more quickly.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
I just want to apologise to any community groups if they felt that I was suggesting they do a disservice to their community in the comments I made here tonight. That was not my intention. And I'm sorry if my words might have been misunderstood if that wasn't the case.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Councillor Ashworth. When we first had this problem, we decided and took a decision that the panto must go on. And within a very, very short space of time, we leapt into action and we got a big top and we got everything moving. And it was a real feat. And okay, it was one particular event. But the 15 months have gone by since we discovered this rack.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
And yet we're sat here tonight with people saying, what's the timescale for the alternative provision? And How long is it going to take to do this and when are we going to get to that? And in 15 months we haven't even made a start. Is this the best we've got in 15 months?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
It sounds like, though, we have a path forward. The Harlequin is going to be rebuilt. Some temporary solution is going to be put in place. We on this committee will, as we always do, look at the plans for the rebuilding and we'll poke and prod at that. Could I suggest, would it be helpful if, perhaps more constructively, we invite people
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
We've got to have the commitment to deliver, but have the commitment to deliver what is necessary at the least cost and the shortest time to our residents. But it doesn't necessarily mean reinstating it as it was left in September 2023. We need to be making sure that we are providing something that is reflective of the future, not reflective of the past.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Councillor Collins. When speaking to these other groups, have they indicated to you that they prefer an all-year-round temporary venue or a seasonal temporary venue?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
I just wanted to quickly ask, is there a difference in cost of ramifications when you compare replacement to remediation or rectification of the rack? So is it easier to repair or is it easier to replace or is it just extremely variable?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Was there money set aside to cover this element of planned maintenance? We were aware about it previously. Is that covered? So we have referred to planned maintenance budget possibly being used and being brought forward to use on the Harlequin for repairs. Is this sort of part of that whole discussion or is there something separate?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Do we have any of this budgeted beforehand? Do we have an idea of how much this would have cost and therefore how much money we would have had to pay anyway?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Are you actually ruling out that the interim facility won't be a year-round community facility? It depends on the facility.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
We are not ruling out a temporary performance space which is going to meet up to 500. Can you get clarification on that as well?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
70: More on the Harlequin’s future… and more
Councillor Ashford. for a fact that the library next door, which is all part of the same construction, has already been, there have been reports on the works necessary and work has already started with a view to the exterior work and repairs being done in the next couple of months with the interior fully fitted out and refurbished by August 2025. Given that we're over a year now on just discussing
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
It's good to see there's a £30,000 proposal for a fund as a grant-giving fund for use of the Harlequin. Is that a one-off fund? Because I struggle to understand whether it is an annual allocation we're looking to. And also perhaps if officers could tell us what has already happened in terms of helping existing users.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
The service budget for the Harlequin of £360,000, I'm keen to understand whether that might include the arts development role that's also discussed or has been discussed?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
The Gloucester Road proposal was put forward by the Harlequin Support Group was circulated prior to the ONS meeting earlier in the month, and yet in this paper there's very little detail on why it was discounted or was being discounted. I'd like to understand a little bit more why that is.