Petitions

Petitions concerning objections to development applications will not be accepted under the Code of Meeting Practice.

The most appropriate way for Council to consider objections to development applications is through the development application notification process. Council is committed to transparent development assessment processes that enable the community to access information about a development proposal that may affect them. To achieve this, all submissions received as part of the development application notification process are treated as public documents and are available online using Council’s Application Tracking service.

An electronic petition (e-petition) is a petition that is ‘signed’ online, usually through a website.

A person submitting an e-petition must ensure that the petition has:

• a clear and concise statement identifying the subject matter of the petition
• a statement identifying the total number of people ‘signing’ the petition
• the full name, address and phone number of the person submitting the petition (‘chief petitioner’), together with the name of the organisation/group they represent if the petition is submitted on behalf of an organisation or group
• the full name, address (including postcode) and email address of those people who support the e-petition.

A person may lodge a petition with Council by:

• emailing it to council@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
• sending it to a Councillor
• sending it to the Chief Executive Officer
• emailing it to the Coordinator Council Liaison at councilloradministration@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
• hand delivering it to the Coordinator Council Liaison, or
• mailing it to Council.

Following receipt by Council, the Coordinator Council Liaison will ensure the petition is registered in Council’s record management system.

If a petition is received by the Coordinator Council Liaison more than seven days before an ordinary Council meeting, the Coordinator Council Liaison will usually arrange for the petition to be included in the agenda and business papers for the next meeting of Council.

If the petition is included in an agenda, the Coordinator Council Liaison will advise the chief petitioner and Councillors of the date of the meeting. However, a petition will not be included on the agenda if, in the opinion of the Chief Executive Officer, it does not contain the content details outlined above or any action it proposes is unlawful.

If the petition is not included in the agenda, the Coordinator Council Liaison will notify the chief petitioner and Councillors within 21 days of lodgement, together with the reasons for it not being included.

Petitions sent directly to a Councillor

If a Councillor receives a petition, they may choose to submit a Notice of Motion with the petition, outlining a recommended action. This must be submitted in writing, five business days before the meeting is to be held. Otherwise, the recommendation included in the business paper will be that Council receives and notes the issues raised in the petition.

Petitions sent directly to a Councillor may be tabled at an Ordinary Council Meeting, without first providing it to the Coordinator Council Liaison more than seven days before the meeting. Council will not debate or discuss a petition tabled using this method. The Code of Meeting Practice does not allow for any Councillor to speak about any petition tabled using this method during the meeting.

Council (Councillors) will decide what action, if any, it will take on a petition. Generally, Council refers the petition to the Chief Executive Officer (General Manager). Council’s decision can be accessed in the minutes of the relevant meeting(s), which are available on Council’s website.

Council staff will consider the petition, take any action considered necessary and advise the chief petitioner and Council accordingly.

A petition will not normally be considered where it is received within 24 months of another petition being considered by Council on the same matter or a substantively similar subject. When a petition is received on a similar subject to a previous petition, petitioners will be notified of the outcome of the previous petition if the Chief Executive Officer (General Manager) considers the issues raised have been addressed.