Petitions & joint letters

Council provides the opportunity for petitions and joint letters to be presented at formal Council meetings where they are related to issues in which Council has direct interest or responsibility.

Petitions or joint letters relating to town planning items are dealt with as part of the formal planning process, rather than separately at a Council meeting.

To lodge:

Petitions and joint letters must be received no less than three business days prior to the Council Meeting.  If a petition is received less than three business days prior to the Council Meeting it will be tabled at the next available Council meeting.

Petitions can be lodged by:

Mail:             PO Box 35, Echuca, Vic, 3564
Email:           [email protected]
In person:    at any Customer Service Centre

The petition or joint letter may nominate a person to whom a reply must be sent, normally called the chief petitioner, but if no person is nominated or is the obvious intended nominated person, Council may reply to the first signatory which appears on the petition.

To support the community, a template for petitions and joint letters is available here: Petitions-and-joint-letters-template.pdf(PDF, 141KB).

Requirements of petitions: 

A petition or joint letter must: -

  • be in legible and permanent type/writing;
  • identify Council as the recipient;
  • not be defamatory, indecent, abusive or objectionable in language or content;
  • not relate to matters beyond the powers of Council;
  • provide a clear and concise statement identifying the subject matter of the petition;
  • bear the whole of the petition or request on each page;
  • consist of single pages of paper and must not be pasted, stapled, pinned or otherwise affixed to any other piece of paper;
  • identify the full name, address and phone number of the person submitting the petition (chief petitioner) or joint letter, together with the name of the organisation/group they represent if the petition or joint letter is submitted on behalf of an organisation or group; and
  • contain the full name, physical address and signature of at least ten (10) people.

Any petitions or joint letters that do not comply with these requirements will not be tabled at a Council meeting.

Further information:

Please contact Council's Governance team on 1300 666 535 or [email protected]