Petitions

Members of the community can use a petition to raise issues and request action from Moyne Shire Council.

For a petition to be accepted it must be signed by a minimum of 12 residents of Moyne Shire and lodged with the Chief Executive Officer at least ten days before a meeting of Council.  

Once received the petition will require an accompanying Council report to be written by officers to present the petition to Council for its consideration.

If Council elect to consider the petition a subsequent report will also be required to deal with the subject of the petition. 

Based on procedural requirements the petition process generally takes a minimum of two months.

Guidelines for organising a petition

A petition or joint letter presented to Council must:

  • Be clearly legible;
  • Be in writing or printed;
  • Be signed by the persons who support the petition or joint letter, except in a case of incapacity where another person may sign of behalf of a person;
  • Clearly append the names and addresses all persons who have signed the petition or joint letter;
  • Be signed by a minimum of 12 residents of Moyne Shire Council
  • Every page of a petition or joint letter must be a single page of paper and not be posted, stapled, pinned or otherwise affixed or attached to any piece of paper other than another page of the petition or joint letter.
  • Each page of the petition will include the petition request and be signed by at least one person.
  • You can use our petition template(DOCX, 24KB) to prepare a petition.
  • A petition `must be lodged with the Chief Executive Officer at least ten days prior to the Council meeting at which it is to be considered to allow inclusion into the agenda.

 

Who to address a petition to

Once the petition is complete, it can be emailed to moyne@moyne.vic.gov.au, posted to Moyne Shire Council, PO Box 51, Port Fairy Vic 3284 or delivered in person to a Customer Service Centre (Port Fairy, Mortlake or Koroit).

The petition should be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer.

 

E-Petitions

The Chief Executive Officer may accept an e-petition if they are satisfied that the petition is authentic, from a legitimate website, and that the petition has been closed.

Council prefers e-petitions that include details of the “request for action” being made of Council on every page.

Council requires that the e-petition includes the following details of each petitioner to demonstrate the petitioners connection to the Shire:

  • Name
  • Residential (property) address
  • Email address

It is recognised that some popular electronic petition products do not provide the level of detail required by Council, and a such, it is the responsibility of the principal petitioner to ensure the platform* chosen allows for petitioners to provide their residential (property) address.

*openPetition.org, and Petitions.net are two examples of platforms that either have residential address embedded in the submission or can have custom fields added to the petition to meet the requirements. By identifying these options, Council in no way provides endorsement of these platforms and recommends petitioners review the associated Terms and Conditions and data protection regulations associated with any platforms before use.

 

 

What happens after it's been submitted?

Once received, the principal petitioner (the organiser of the petition or, where this information is not available, to the first named signatory) will receive acknowledgement that the petition has been received.

It is the responsibility of the principal petitioner to contact all other signatories on the petition.

The petition is registered by us and the original petition is forwarded to the responsible Director who then prepares a petition report for inclusion in the next available Council meeting agenda where the Council may

  • Resolve to receive the petition for further consideration,
  • Instruct the Chief Executive Officer to manage the matter, or
  • Resolve to take no further action on the matter.

A resolution to receive a petition does not constitute agreement with the petition.

Petitions related to operational matters are referred to the Chief Executive Officer for any further consideration or action.

Council may only resolve to consider a matter raised in a petition

(a)   at a subsequent Council meeting; or

(b)   if the Council resolves that the matter is urgent, at the meeting where it is presented

Council staff will liaise with the principal petitioner, as appropriate, to address the issue(s) raised in the petition.

The principal petitioner will be advised in writing of Council’s decision.

 

Privacy and petitions

There will be no personal information such as petition signatures, names and addresses provided in the report to the Council meeting. A redacted page of a petition is included in the report.

 

Petition objecting to a planning application

Petitions relating to planning applications are considered as part of the planning process, not at a Council meeting. The principal petitioner will be registered as an objector or supporter to the specific planning application. Please refer to the Planning application process overview for more information on objections to planning applications. 

 

How to petition other levels of government

The following sites provide information about petitioning Victorian or Australian government:

You can also contact your local Members of Parliament about petitioning the state or federal governments. 

 

 

 

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