6th September 2006, 02:21 PM
Last year one of my clients entered into advance discussions with a planning authority regarding a potential planning application.
The client received a letter from the County Archaeologist recommending a pre-application evaluation, along with a short brief for the work. The letter stated that the work could be carried out by the county council-based archaeological unit, and the letter and brief were copied to the head of said unit.
The next day the client received a cost estimate for the evaluation from the county council unit.
At no point was the client advised that they were entitled to seek alternative quotations from other contractors - it just appeared as a complete stitch-up.
Beamo
The client received a letter from the County Archaeologist recommending a pre-application evaluation, along with a short brief for the work. The letter stated that the work could be carried out by the county council-based archaeological unit, and the letter and brief were copied to the head of said unit.
The next day the client received a cost estimate for the evaluation from the county council unit.
At no point was the client advised that they were entitled to seek alternative quotations from other contractors - it just appeared as a complete stitch-up.
Beamo