Petitions
A petition is a formal written document, signed by many people, which requests action in relation to an issue.
A petition is used to raise issues and request action from Council.
Guidelines for organising a petition to Council
The Governance Rules 2020(PDF, 2MB) outline the rules relating to submitting petitions and joint letters to Council.
For a petition or joint letter to be accepted by Council, they must meet the following criteria:
- Be in legible and permanent writing
- Be clear, and state the matter and action sought from Council on each page
- Not be derogatory, defamatory or objectionable in language or nature
- Not relate to matters outside the powers of Council
- Must include the full name, residential postcode and written or electronic signature of each petitioner and, as a minimum, must also contain the full property address of at least 10 petitioners who own property or reside in Mount Alexander Shire.
Council will acknowledge in a Scheduled Meeting, receipt of petitions and joint letters that are received during Public Question Time. Council will also acknowledge receipt of complying petitions and joint letters that have been received since the last Scheduled Meeting.
Unless otherwise resolved, a report that responds to an accepted petition or joint letter will be provided for Council’s consideration within two Scheduled Council Meetings.
If a petition or joint letter relates to a ‘statutory matter’, planning matter’ or any other matter for which there is a community engagement process already in place, the petition or joint letter will be acknowledged and the lead signatory advised that it will be considered and responded to in accordance with those processes.
A response to a petition or joint letter will be provided to the lead signatory only.
Council will not accept or display petitions that relate to other organisations.
Petitions must relate to issues that are of direct interest to Council.
They should not contain information that is offensive, relate to employment issues, involve contractual issues before Council, or be vague. Such petitions will be declined.
A petition should clearly state its request or matter, such as:
“We the undersigned residents and ratepayers of Mount Alexander Shire Council formally request Council to …” (outline request).
The petition or joint letter should nominate the key contact person for correspondence.
Ideally, petitions and joint letters should be lodged electronically via Council’s website at info@mountalexander.vic.gov.au. Otherwise a typed or clearly legible, hand written version is satisfactory.
Petitions and joint letters, once tabled before Council, become public documents.