Petitioning Northumberland County Council

Northumberland County Council is committed to engaging with its citizens, getting closer to communities and improving services. We particularly welcome petitions as one way in which you can let us know your concerns or indeed ideas. The council sees petitioning as a key part of this process.

The council has been operating a petitions scheme since local government reorganisation in Northumberland took effect on 1 April 2009. The council updated its procedure in May 2010, and again in May 2012 when it was agreed to create a new Petitions Committee.

Petitions can be created or signed by anybody living, working, studying or using services in Northumberland.  Petitions can be in paper or electronic form ('e-petition').  They can also be submitted as a combination of written and electronic signatures.

You are welcome to begin your own paper petition or use a suggested template, which can be accessed by clicking here

If you wish to create a new e-petition you should first examine existing petitions to ensure that you are not duplicating an existing one.

Click here to create an e-petition or add your name to an existing one

 

You can vew the existing petitions by

• most popular,
• newly created,
• recently closed,
• closing shortly.

by searching for

 content or a keyword

If you would like to learn more about E-Petitions more information is available on the frequently asked questions page.

Valid petitions require a minimum of 10 signatures.

Petitions in writing should be directed for the attention of:

The Petitions Officer
Democratic Services
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
MORPETH
NE61 2EF

What happens to petitions?

Petitions about local issues will be considered by the council’s area committees.  Petitions about licensing or planning applications will be considered by the relevant licensing or planning committee.  The new Petitions Committee, established by the County Council in May 2012, will consider those petitions of a corporate or county wide nature which do not fall within the remit of the area committees, planning and other regulatory committees.  It will make appropriate recommendations to full Council, the Executive or regulatory committees depending upon the subject matter. 

After receiving a petition, a report will be produced for the next available meeting, if possible. Sometimes this will take longer if the issue in question requires more investigation.  A petition about a licensing or planning application will be considered when the application is ready to be considered by a licensing or planning committee.

Some petitions will not be considered in this process, for example responses to ongoing consultation exercises,  or if a petition's subject includes information that is vexatious, offensive, derogatory they will not be investigated and reasons will be given.  Any about individuals will also be addressed separately but never in public.

Meetings of the Petitions Committee

Please note details of recently held or forthcoming meetings of the Petitions Committee:

• Wednesday, 24 October at 9.15am, Committee Room 1, County Hall, Morpeth.  
• Details of the meeting are listed as follows: Agenda; Appendix A; Appendix B; Minutes of the meeting.

 

• Wednesday 23 January 2013 at 2pm in Committee Room 2, County Hall, Morpeth.  This meeting will consider petitions received about middle school provision in Allendale and the council's tree policy/tree maintenance in Cramlington.  Details of the meeting are listed as follows: Agenda; Minutes of the previous meeting; Minutes of the meeting on 23 January 2013; Appendix A; Appendix B.

 

View the petitions log

A copy of the petitions log, which provides summary details of petitions received so far, can be viewed by clicking here. The log is updated on a weekly basis.

What response can I expect in response to my petition?

1. The receipt of petitions should be acknowledged to the lead petitioner within seven working days of their receipt by Democratic Services
2. The letter of receipt will include details of procedure: the officer contact, service area contact, date/time/venue of meeting where a report responding to the petition will be heard.  If any these details cannot be provided in the first letter, further correspondence should be sent once the details are confirmed
3. If the response is to heard at a later meeting (for example due to the complexity of the issue being investigated it will take more time to produce a report), the lead petitioner will be advised of as soon as possible
4. The lead petitioner will receive a copy of report about the petition at least five days before the meeting 
5. The lead petitioner will receive a minute extract about the decision taken following the meeting. 

 

Further information:

• For a copy of the revised scheme agreed by County Council on 2 May 2012, please click here
• For more information about the council's area committees, please click here 

 

For further advice about petitioning, please telephone either 01670 622616 or 622611, or email  petitions@northumberland.gov.uk