Improved Accountability to the Community in Management of Petitions

Principal Petitioner: Steve MacDonald

Closing Date: 4:30pm, Tuesday 12 November 2024

At 10 signatures, this petition will be considered properly made.

Petition Request:

Improve accountability to the community by implementing an online register which includes details of all paper and online petitions lodged with the Council.

The register should include details of the petition request, date when the petition was accepted, and the number of people who signed the petition.

The register should also include the Council’s response to the petition and the date when this was advised to petitioners.  The register should commence 1 January 2024. 

Where petitions are referred to the CEO to be dealt with as an operational matter, Council’s standing orders should require the CEO to respond within 30 days of the petition being accepted. Where petitions are to be the subject of a report back to Council, then the response should be published within 15 days of the matter being dealt with at a Council Meeting.

Petition Response:

Thank you for your petition that was presented to Council at the General Meeting held on 20 November 2024, and for engaging with Council on this important matter.

I am pleased to inform you that at the General Meeting held on 17 September 2025, Council adopted updated Standing Orders which include improvements to the petition process.  Under the new standing orders, Council will now respond to the Principal Petitioner within 10 business days of the meeting at which the petition is presented.  Additionally, both the petition and the response will be published on Council’s petition portal on our website within the same timeframe. 

This will apply to both online and paper petitions, meaning the portal will hold information for all petitions since the online portal became available (March 2024), once they have been responded to.

These changes will take effect from 25 October 2025, which is the date the minutes of the meeting are officially published under legislation.  Rest assured, we are working to update the portal with all petitions that have been presented to Council prior to this effective date.

We are pleased to share that this new process exceeds the request outlined in your petition for a response within 30 days.  Council appreciates your contribution and advocacy, which helped inform this positive change.