Petitions
Delivering a petition
Petitions can be hand delivered, posted or emailed to council. Please note the 5 working day requirement to receive a petition before a meeting is based on the time council receives the petition.
You can post or hand-deliver your petition to the below address:
1061 Haupapa Street, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand
Or you can email your petition to our Governance Team at RLC.Governance@rotorualc.nz
Please ensure you clearly state which council or committee meeting you wish the petition to be received at and provide contact details for our staff to get in touch with you.
Petition requirements
The Chief Executive will assess the petition before it is received by Council or one of Council's Committees.
A petition must meet the following requirements:
- Be within the Council or Committee's Terms of Reference;
- contain at least 20 signatures;
- not be longer than 150 words;
- be received by the Chief Executive at least 5 working days prior to the meeting at which it is to be presented;
- not contain disrespectful, offensive, malicious, inaccurate or misleading statements; and
- be written in English, or te reo Māori.
The Chair may waive the time requirement for receiving a petition prior to a meeting, and petitioners presenting in te reo Māori or sign language must advise the Chief Executive to allow translation services to be arranged.
Presenting a petition
Once all the requirements are met, a petition is placed on the agenda for the next council or committee meeting. Typically, petitions are received early in the meeting. Please note council and committee meetings are normally scheduled to start at 9.30am on Wednesdays.
When presenting to council or committee, petitioners are allowed a total of 5 minutes speaking time. The Chairperson of the meeting may terminate the presentation if the petitioner is being disrespectful, offensive, or making malicious statements.
Elected Members can present petitions to council however they must confine themselves to only presenting the petition, the petition's statement, and the number of signatures.
