Petitions and Joint Letters
You can formally communicate requests, complaints and concerns to Council through petitions and joint letters.
Requests, complaints and concerns can be formally communicated to Council through the use of Petitions and Joint letters.
Any petition or joint letter that takes the form of an objection to, or support of, a statutory planning application will be presented to the Statutory Planning Committee meeting at which the said application is to be considered. The petition or joint letter will be treated in accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
Requirements
A petition or joint letter will be presented at a Council meeting only if it meets all of the following criteria:
- A petition or joint letter must be lodged with the Chief Executive Officer at least seven days prior to the Council meeting at which it is to be considered to allow inclusion into the agenda.
- Every petition or joint letter presented to Council must be in writing (other than pencil), typing or printing, contain the request of the petitioners or signatories and be signed by at least 5 people.
- Every petition or joint letter must be signed by the persons whose names are appended to it by their names or marks, and, except in cases of incapacity or sickness, by no one else and the address of every petitioner or signatory must be clearly stated.
- Any signature appearing on a page which does not bear the text of the whole of the petition or request may not be considered by Council.
- Every page of a petition or joint letter must be a single page of paper and not be posted, stapled, pinned or otherwise affixed or attached to any piece of paper other than another page of the petition or joint letter.
- The Chief Executive Officer may accept electronic petitions received via online websites if he or she is satisfied that the petition is authentic and from a legitimate website and provided that the electronic petition has been closed and a copy has been forwarded to Council.
- If a petition or joint letter relates to an operational matter, Council must refer it to the Chief Executive Officer for consideration.
- Nothing in this clause shall prevent the Chief Executive Officer from determining that a petition or joint letter that does not fully comply this Rule will be submitted to a Council meeting for consideration. However, any petition or joint letter that materially does not comply with this Rule will not be accepted by the Chief Executive Officer.
- Only the wording of the request and the number of signatories will be included in the agenda for a Council meeting.
- If the petition or joint letter relates to any item already on the agenda for the Council meeting at which the petition or joint letter is submitted, the Chair may decide that the Petition or joint letter will be dealt with in conjunction with that agenda item.
- If the petition or joint letter relates to:
(a) a planning matter which is the subject of a public notification process under the Planning and Environment Act 1987; or
(b) a statutory matter which is the subject of a community engagement process, the petition or joint letter will be treated as a joint submission in relation to the planning matter or the statutory matter (as the case may be). - A petition or joint letter may nominate a person to whom a reply must be sent, but if no person is nominated or if it is not obvious who the intended contact person is, Council will reply to the first signatory who appears on the petition or joint letter.
Submit a petition
You can submit online below or:
- In person at the St Kilda Town Hall, 99a Carlisle Street, St Kilda
- By mail:
Private Bag 3
St Kilda, VIC 3182