Richard Bigg
speaker
138 appearances
5 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2024
last heard Feb 2025
Richard Bigg’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Councillor Essex I apologise when you listed 150, 200, 250 I thought your focus was on the numbers. I didn't realise your focus was actually on the all year round so I apologise for my interpretation of your comment. With respect it's both.
I appreciate what you're saying. I think, you know, we need to move this on. We have a lot to do tonight. We've already said that I'm happy to talk to people about the temporary, but at this stage and at this meeting, that is not an option on the table. So I think, you know, it's been mentioned many, many times, we've put in lots of other options within this paper to try and...
help as many of the groups as possible and as I've said and repeated I really want to concentrate on getting the main theatre done and I do not want anybody distracted from that.
So I think I'd really like to move on from that because it's not on the option, it's not on these papers, it's not a recommendation and I think I've given visiting members quite a lot of latitude tonight because obviously of the importance And the fact that we have public guests here as well, I think I have given it quite a lot of latitude.
But I really think we need to move on because we're not going anywhere. We're going around in circles. So can I please move on now to part two?
It's now recommended that members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business under section 100A, open brackets, four closed brackets, of the Local Government Act, 1972, on the grounds that one, it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph three of part one of schedule 12A of the Act, and two, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
We're now back in part one, which is public. Because there's eight recommendations, I'm going to do them one at a time, just so that the executive are comfortable. So to the executive, recommendation number one.
is support previous community hirers with alternative rehearsal performance space solutions where appropriate through small enabling grants subject to annual budget approval. Do we agree? Agree? Thank you very much.
Number two, to support the expansion of the council's existing arts development offer, supporting arts development opportunities in Redhill and Boroughwide subject to annual budget approval. Is that agreed? Agreed. Thank you. Agreed to maintain the Harlequin Services net revenue budget for 2526 at £360,000. Is that agreed? Thank you.
Agreed to allocate up to £10 million for the Harlequin Theatre and cultural offering in the borough. Is that agreed? Thank you. Agreed to receive a further report on the future of the Harlequin in the Warwick quadrant in June 2025 with the report seeking budgetary approval
and authority to appoint a client design team to work up costed implementation plans and delegating discussions with the head leaseholder of the Warwick quadrant in order to agree costs and responsibilities and timeline to the director, property services manager, legal services manager and chief finance officer in consultation with the leader of the council and the portfolio holder for finance and assets.
Is that agreed? Agree to receive a further report in June 2025 on the detailed costed feasibility and potential operator analysis for around 200-seater Redhill performance venue, which could cater for commercial and community hires, including capital and revenue budgetary recommendations. Is that agreed? Agreed, thank you.
To delegate decisions regarding the operational implications to the Strategic Head of Communities and Wellbeing and Head of Green Spaces, Leisure and Culture in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, the Leader of the Council, the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Sustainability and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Assets. Is that agreed?
And finally, number eight, that we note the motion that was deferred by executive at their meeting on the 15th of August, 2024, and conclude that where possible, the principles of the motion are being addressed in the recommendations set out in this report. Is that agreed? Thank you very much. Thank you. And thanks to visiting members for their input on that item.
It was important that we discussed it in depth. I move on to Item 6, Council Tax 2526, where Councillor Lewanski will be supported.
I understand the strong feeling and interest in resolution of the situation with Harlequin, as demonstrated by the public attendance today and at previous meetings, and also through feedback received at last October's public engagement sessions and the numbers who attended the public meeting organised by the Reigate and Redhill Society in December.
I think we can all agree that none of us wanted to be in this situation, but the safety risks associated with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete are paramount. I would like to draw your attention to a few points. The critical red nature of the RAC panels means that this is going to take some time to resolve.
The papers include indicative costs of 10 million pounds to tackle the RAC and reinstate the Harlequin broadly as it was. However, we will need to consider whether our ambitions should be bigger and be mindful of the uncertainties which surround the cost of RAC removal, both of which could result in a larger capital budget requirement.
At the 30th of January Executive, we will consider specific recommendations relating to supporting previous community hirers and investing in arts development, with further Executive reports required regarding the future of the Harlequin in the Warwick Quadrant and the potential for an interim fixed venue.
I do feel it's important to acknowledge the competing pressures and priorities for how large amounts of public money are used and the importance of ensuring that we only pay for what we are responsible for. Finally, I would also like to note the representations I have received directly from members of the public, and I'd like to thank them for that.
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