As we go to the polls today to exercise our democratic rights, it seems that our opinions do not matter enough to the Parish Council to allow us to present our petition on 11th July.
On 27th June I wrote to the Parish Council Clerk;
Hello Marianne,
I would like to request an agenda item for the meeting of the parish council on Thursday 11th July.
This will be to present a petition.
In the absence of EPC having a petitions policy, we propose the following governance approach;
The petition organiser, or another signatory, will be invited to speak for 5 minutes. No Parish Councillor shall speak on a petition at which the petition is presented other than at the discretion of the Chairman. Following the presentation the Council will decide how to respond to the petition by taking a vote at this meeting.
It may decide:
• A petition may be “Accepted” and the item may be actioned by the Council i.e. to take the action the petition requests.
• A petition may be “Rejected” because it fails to gain the support of at least 20 other parishioners, or has a higher proportion of parishioners registering a rejection than supporting the petition or the Council takes a collective view opposite to the petition's organiser and decides not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate.
If in the interim, the council should announce their intention is to take the action proposed by the petitioners, the agenda item can be considered closed by mutual agreement.
On this occasion I will not be available to present the petition so another will speak on my behalf.
Kind regards,
Alexander Wills
This is the response I received today;
Dear Mr Wills
Your request for an agenda item at next week's meeting has not been granted. The Parish Council will not be adding an agenda item for you, or someone else on your behalf, to present a petition at the meeting. The agenda is already full, and the councillors need further information.
The council has taken advice and been advised to cover your request as a correspondence item at this stage.
However, anyone is free to attend next week's meeting and speak for 3 minutes during the public session.
Kind regards
Marianne
Marianne Simpson
Parish Clerk - Eastington Parish Council
Tel: 01453 799616
Mob: 07747634217
Subsequently I have raised a formal complaint as follows;
Dear Eastington Parish Council,
I am writing to express my formal complaint regarding the recent denial of my right to present a petition to the Council.
On 27th June, I submitted a request for an agenda item to present a petition, currently signed by 140 residents of Eastington, concerning the Parish precept 24/25. I was informed that the petition would not be considered by the Council because the (unpublished) "agenda is full", and "the councillors need more information". At no point have EPC requested any further information. No offer has been made for an alternative date.
I believe this decision to be a violation of my right to present a petition as outlined in the Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Authorities (Referendums) (Petitions) (England) Regulations 2011/2914.
I, therefore, request that the Council reconsider its decision and allow me (or another representative) to present the petition at the next Council meeting. I am available to answer any questions you may have regarding the petition and the signatures it has gathered. The petition can be viewed at https://www.change.org/p/require-eastington-parish-to-correct-the-precept-calculation-error-of-24-25
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Alexander Wills
I would strongly encourage all of you to;
- Write a similar formal complaint to clerk@eastington-pc.gov.uk AND to monitoring.officer@stroud.gov.uk
- Attend the next Parish Council meeting on 11th July at 7pm to express your concern.