Petitions
Petitions may be submitted and presented to meetings of the
Executive, the Council and its Committees (excluding the
Planning
Committee and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as
they have their own arrangements for consulting with the
public) prior to the passing of a resolution to exclude the
public. In addition to this, Members of the public are not
permitted to present a petition at our Standards Committee
meetings although you would be welcome to attend.
Submit a
petition.
Requirements
- A petition must be relevant to the meeting at which it is
presented
- A petition can be on any issue on which the council has
powers or duties, or which specifically affects the borough
provided that it does not relate to a confidential matter
- A petition must be signed by at least 15 people
- Written notice to register a petition must be given to
the Member Services Section by
10am on the day of the meeting if the meeting starts at 7pm (if the
meeting starts before 7pm then notice must be received by 10am on
the working day before the meeting)
At the meeting
- Decide beforehand who will be the
spokesperson as only one person will be permitted to speak to the
meeting on the subject of the petition. That person must be a
signatory to the petition
- You must sit in the public area and the
Chairman will invite you to speak at the appropriate point in the
meeting
- A speech in support of the petition
will be limited to three minutes
- It is unlikely that any debate will take
place at the meeting to which the petition is presented – either a
written response will be sent out or the petition will be referred
to another meeting for further consideration. The spokesperson will
be kept updated about progress and notified of the date and time at
which the meeting is to be held which will consider the petition,
and will be invited to speak at that meeting
- Petitioners are not allowed to enter into
the debate at the meeting to which the petition is
presented
- In exceptional cases relating to matters
on which the council or committee are required to act in a quasi
judicial manner it will not be possible for the council to agree to
accept a petition
- The ruling of the Mayor (or chairman of
the committee) is final and binding
Where can I find out dates of meetings?
A full list
of meeting dates are available, or you can contact Member
Services on 01233 330564, email Member
Services or write to us at:
Member Services
Ashford Borough Council
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent TN23 1PL
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are unsure which
meeting your petition should be addressed to.
This webpage was updated on
5/16/2008