REDHILL'S Army reservists will be leaving the town and relocating to Croydon.
The move – part of a major Government overhaul of Britain's Territorial Army units – will involve the 150 Recovery Company leaving their TA centre in Linkfield House, Batts Hill within the next three years.
The decision was announced in a Commons statement by Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond last week. In total, 26 reservist bases across the country will be moved or closed, taking the number from 334 to 308.
The move has angered Reigate MP Crispin Blunt, who fears for the future of the town's Cadets who also operate from the local base.
Speaking in the Commons last week, he said: "May I gently register my concern about the fate of the Cadet forces associated with the TA Centre in Redhill that he is proposing to close?"
After the debate Mr Blunt added: "I understand the military aspects of the decision, but it is a very great shame that 150 Recovery Company is to relocate to Croydon. They have been outstanding representatives for the Armed Forces in our borough, and will be sorely missed.
"I also want to know that the Army Cadet unit and Air Cadet 135 Squadron based at Batts Hill can continue to use their facilities, or have better provision made for them if the decision is taken in the future to vacate the site altogether."
The government claims the relocation of the Redhill reserve unit, and others in the country, will lead to £1.8 billion being invested over the next ten years, and a bigger role for reservists.
Responding to Mr Blunt, the Defence Secretary said: "Cadets are co-located on many reserve sites.
"The fact that we are vacating a site does not mean that the building will be shut or the site disposed of.
"Where cadets are in occupation, they will continue to occupy and we will seek appropriate ways of re-providing for cadets in the same area. That may be on the same site or on one in the near vicinity."
A spokesman for the Surrey Army Cadets said the future of the detachment will be secure no matter what happens.
He said: "It's not going to be for a while and all being well we'll still be able to use our local centre in Redhill. If not we'll acquire another location."
A spokesman for the MOD said the changes were part of a process to integrate the reserve and regular Army into a single force, adding: "150 Recovery Company, part of 103 Battalion Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, is one such unit. Although there will be no structural changes to the Company, it will relocate to Croydon, leaving its current premises in Redhill."
