Petitions and joint letters with 10 or more signatures will be tabled at the next available Council Meeting and a response prepared for Council consideration within two subsequent Council Meetings, unless otherwise resolved.
Petitions and joint letters with 9 or less signatures will be forwarded directly to an appropriate City staff member to action.
Your petition must be received and follow content guidelines to be considered by Council.
Submitting your petition
Petitions and joint letters must be lodged in sufficient time to be presented at the Council Meeting.
Petitions and joint letters can be lodged by:
- Mail to PO Box 733 Bendigo 3552
- In person at Galkangu - Bendigo GovHub 189-229 Lyttleton Terrace, Bendigo or 125 High Street, Heathcote
- Emailed to [email protected]
Content
Persons submitting a petition or joint letter should include their:
- Name
- Address
- Request of Council
It is preferred that a petition should read:
"We the undersigned residents and ratepayers of Greater Bendigo City Council formally request Council to ………… (specify the request)".
Every page of a petition or joint letter that people sign or agree to must have the wording of the whole of the petition or request.
As per 6.3.1 of the Governance Rules, every petition accepted by Council must, unless otherwise approved by the CEO:
(a) Be legible and in permanent writing
(b) Clearly state on each page the matter and action sought from Council (c) Include the names, addresses and original signatures
As per 6.3.2 of the Governance Rules, every petition submitted to Council must not:
(a) Be derogatory, defamatory or objectionable in language or nature
(b) Relate to matters outside the powers of Council
(c) Contain signatures that are false or misleading
(d) Relate to a statutory matter (these will be considered as part of the public submissions process in accordance with the relevant legislation)
Further procedure
Every tabled petition and joint letter will be addressed in the Agenda item for Petitions and Joint Letters unless it relates to an item listed on the Agenda, where it may be dealt with in conjunction with.
In order to support the public disclosure of petitions as part of the democratic process, Council requires that all reports to Council Meetings in response to public petitions will include a copy of the petition and the names of all signatories.
The initiator of the petition or joint letter will receive a written response.