City Centre Scams:

J C Decaux "street furniture"

In one of the most unbelievable deals brokered by the City Centre Management team, 80 pieces of J C Decaux "street furniture" were installed in Bradford over the last 2 years, bringing a fortune to the Belgian company and not one penny to Bradford rate payers.

The "street furniture" consists of advertising hoardings and columns, with all the revenue from the advertising going straight to Decaux.

The only benefit to the public are an occasional "seat" at the foot of some of the advertising columns, and a few street maps displayed on some of Decaux sites free of charge. In return Decaux have been guaranteed an "on street" advertising monopoly for at least 20 years - previous advertisers had their contracts "terminated" by the council to ensure this. 2 J C Decaux "advertisement supported" pay "superloos" were also installed at public expense - but proved to be a disaster and had to be removed.

Yet this scam is not unique to Bradford. Decaux have secured similar deals across the country, thanks to the Town Centre Management network.

Birmingham council forked out a quarter of a million pounds in the late eighties for 500 pieces of "free street furniture". And in Madrid, the erection of 1500 items led to mass protests.

Not surprisingly, questions as to how these deals came to be made have been raised. In 1992 the Belgian Mayor of Liege was convicted for accepting millions of francs worth of "campaign funds" in return for granting the company contracts. The millionaire recluse Jean-Claude Decaux received a year in jail, suspended, for his part in the scandal. 4 years later a Belgian Decaux manager was convicted for providing fraudulent invoices to finance politicians. Tales of the wining and dining of politicians in return for contracts across the globe are legion.

Meanwhile, in Darley Street, Bradford, a row of popular trees were recently dug up at public expense to make way for more J C Decaux garish and highly profitable "furniture".

Perhaps a close look at some of the recent extravagances of our local politicians might be in order.

Town Centre Management * KDIS Online