2015-03-31 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                    31 MARCH 2015


The proposed amendment to Section 17 is outlined below. An amended version of the Standing
Orders is provided at Attachment 1.

17.   Petitions
      (1) A member may present a paper petition or electronic petition where the petition seeks
          to be presented to the whole of Council and the petition meets the relevant Council
          petition requirements provided for in section 17(4) and 17(5) below, is legible, the
          purpose of the petition is on the top of each page, contains a minimum of 10
          signatories and is worded in considerate language.
      (2) On presentation of a petition to the local government the only motion which may be
          moved is that:
          (a)     The petition not be received, or
          (b)     The petition be received and referred to the Chief Executive Officer to determine
                  appropriate action, or
          (c)     The petition be received and referred to the Chief Executive Officer or a statutory
                  committee for consideration and report back to the local government.
      (3) No debate on a petition shall be allowed except the member presenting the petition
          may speak to the petition for a period of not more than one minute.
      (4) In order for a paper petition to be eligible to be presented to Council, it must:
          (a)     Identify the Principal Petitioner being the person who is responsible for
                  organising the petition;
          (b)     Clearly state the relevant grievance and action requested of Council;
          (c)     Clearly state that the petition seeks to be presented to the whole of Council;
          (d)     Be respectful and not contain any offensive language or content;
          (e)     Contain a minimum of 10 signatures; and
          (f)     Clearly state the purpose of the petition on the top of each page.
      (5) In order for an electronic petition to be eligible to be presented to Council, it must by
          way of cover document:
          (a)     Identify the Principal Petitioner as defined under section 17(4)(a) above;
          (b)     Clearly state the relevant grievance and action requested of Council;
          (c)     Clearly state that the petition seeks to be presented to the whole of Council;
          (d)     Clearly state how the parties to the petition were obtained i.e. via reply email
                  confirmation or confirm click in a web interface;
          (e)     Attach a paper copy of the email or web interface referred to in item (d) above;
          (f)     Be respectful and not contain any offensive language or content;
          (g)     Have been responded to by a minimum of 10 persons who wish to be party to
                  the petition;
          (h)     Contain the signature of the Principal Petitioner and written confirmation of how
                  many persons have agreed to be party to the petition; and
          (i)     Contain a list that includes the name and suburb location of all parties to the
                  petition.




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