Petitions

A petition is used to raise issues and request action from Council.

Guidelines for organising a petition to Council

A petition will be considered by Council when it has been signed by 10 or more people.

Where a petition has been signed by less than 10 people, it will be considered a joint letter and forwarded to the appropriate Council officer for response.

A petition received by Council must:

Be in legible and permanent writing
Not be derogatory, defamatory or objectional in language or nature
Not relate to matters outside the powers of Council
Include the names, addresses and original signatures of at least 10 people

Aditionally:

Each page of the petition will include the petition request and be signed by at least one person.
Each person who signs the petition must include their name and address.
A person may not sign on behalf of anyone else, except in cases of incapacity or sickness.

You can use Council's petition template (DOC 50Kb) to prepare a petition.

Who to address a petition to

Once the petition is complete, it can be emailed to governance@moreland.vic.gov.au, posted to Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Merri-bek 3058 or delivered in person to a Council Customer Service Centre.

The petition should be addressed to either the relevant Ward Councillor or Director.

How Council actions petitions

Once received, the petition is registered by Council 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.

The principal petitioner, be that 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 by Council.

It is the responsibility of the principal petitioner, and not Council, to contact all other signatories on the petition.

The Council Officer liaises 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 to Council.

Petition objecting to a planning application

The principle petitioner will be registered as an objector or supporter to the specific planning application. The petition will be considered as part of the planning process.

How to petition other levels of government

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