Hertsmere Borough Council is set to rent out part of its first floor office space to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Hertfordshire.

Council papers state the space is "surplus" and will help provide additional income.

The PCC currently rents some ground floor space at the council offices in Borehamwood but it wants more room to work in.

The PCC approached the council to see if there was scope to expand and the council has identified meeting rooms upstairs that can be remodelled and subsequently used by the PCC.

A new lease has been negotiated by council officers with the PCC, which is a minimum of 15 years. The rent the PCC will pay the council is undisclosed to the public at this stage.

Watford Observer: Police vehicles parked at the Civic Centre in BorehamwoodPolice vehicles parked at the Civic Centre in Borehamwood

To accommodate face to face and hybrid meetings, the council says there is a need to create new "flexible meeting rooms" on the first floor of the civic offices.

It is proposed to form three rooms with flexible dividers to replicate the existing room format, at a cost of £80,000 to be funded from the council's Innovation Investment Fund.

The council's Executive committee will be asked to approve the proposal when it meets inside the council chamber at the civic offices on Tuesday September 14.

Watford Observer: Hertsmere Borough Council civic offices in BorehamwoodHertsmere Borough Council civic offices in Borehamwood (Image: Newsquest)

Meanwhile, the council is set to spend nearly £10,000 on a new bike parking facility for its staff.

As part of its Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan, which was approved in July 2020, the council is seeking to discourage staff travelling to its civic offices in Borehamwood by car.

The council says a recent staff survey found 26 members of staff who would cycle to work but a lack of safe parking for bikes proved to be a barrier for them.

An open visitors cycle shelter does not "afford suitably secure all day/evening parking for staff cycles", a council report states.

An area has been identified on the Shenley Road side of the Civic Offices to accommodate a secure cycle shelter facility for ten bikes, with a sliding gate and mechanical lock.

The project is proposed to cost £9,100 and be funded from the council's budget of £150,000 for climate change initiatives.

The council's Executive committee is being asked to approve the installation of the new cycle parking at the meeting on Tuesday.