Prague began to remove the benches of the AD-Net company, which terminated the contract
“The ones on Budějovická in Olbrachtova Street in Prague 4 have already disappeared. The gradual removal due to 1,400 pieces of this furniture will take place after a protracted dispute with a former tenant of a number of city plots,” said Councilor Jan Chabr. He added that the city proceeds with the first authorities on the basis of a decision of the road authorities and will subsequently apply for execution orders. The costs are to go to the former tenant.
Benches are typical components of concrete foundations and blue-painted seating areas. According to the city, the contract for their placement came from 1998, and AD-Net took it over in 2001. The spokesman said that the first notice of the city’s contract was delivered to the company in 2014 and again after the legal analysis. “However, the company expressed its disagreement with the termination of the lease. Despite repeated court decisions, the benches have remained on city land until today, ”explained Vít Hofman, a city spokesman.
Prague will also see the replacement of public transport shelters, for which the contracting company JCDecaux operated until the end of June this year. However, the previous management of the municipality decided not to extend the contract on the grounds that it is disadvantageous for the city, which the company refuses. The current management then approved that the city will purchase its own furniture and gradually replace the current stops owned by the company. According to earlier statements, which are to appear at stops at the end of this year, only the prototype on Palackého náměstí has been installed so far.
The current management of the city has in its program the fight against the so-called visual smog, ie the infestation of public space with aggressive advertising. Among other things, illegal advertisements are being removed, and the city has also decided to remove rickshaws, which the owners run illegally and use as advertising media. A manual for the design of shop windows has also been issued, which must be observed by all tenants in the city’s non-residential services. In the future, according to the city’s representatives, the number of legal advertising spaces should also decrease, for example at public transport stops.