The council will not accept a petition which:
- is abusive, vexatious, libellous or otherwise inappropriate
- might lead to the council acting illegally
- relates to an identifiable person (except in the case of a petition to call a senior council officer to account
- relates to an issue which is clearly outside the control or reasonable influence of the council (e.g. petitions on
national issues)
- clearly supports the financial interests of the person submitting the petition
- refers to a matter which is already the subject of legal proceedings
- is submitted from employees about terms and conditions of employment or relates to internal management issues
- duplicates or is substantially similar to a petition received less than 12 months ago, unless there has been a material
change in circumstances.
Petitions made under other enactments, such as petitions under the Local Government Act 2000 asking for referendum on whether the
area should have an elected mayor, will be dealt with according to the procedures set out in those enactments. If such a petition
fails to meet the requirements of the enactment in question, for example a petition under the 2000 act does not achieve the requisite
number of signatures, it will then be dealt with through this Petitions Scheme in exactly the same manner as any other petition.
This Petitions Scheme does not apply to certain matters, where there are already existing processes for communities to have their
say. The following matters are therefore excluded from the scope of this Petitions Scheme:
- Any matter relating to a planning decision, including about a development plan document or the community infrastructure levy
- Any matter relating to an alcohol, gambling or sex establishment licensing decision
- Any matter relating to an individual or entity in respect of which that individual or entity has a right of recourse to a
review or right of appeal conferred by or under any enactment.
In the period immediately before an election or referendum we may need to deal with your petition differently - if this is the case
we will explain the reasons and discuss the revised timescale which will apply.
