The number of names needed for a petition to be debated by West Sussex County Council has been reduced from 9,000 to 3,000 – seven months after it was increased.
The 9,000-name threshold – around 1 per cent of the population – was approved in March when the Conservatives controlled the council.
Things have changed since then and the decision to drop the requirement back to 3,000 – 0.33 per cent of the population – was made during a meeting of the full council in Chichester, on Friday (October 16).
All nine of the Conservative councillors at the meeting abstained from voting.
Paul Marshall (Con, Storrington) said the group ‘support residents having effective opportunities to raise concerns and have them considered by elected councillors’.
But he added that they would abstain because they felt that if the county council made a change, it should be echoed by the seven district and borough councils.
This was welcomed by most of the councillors.
Alex Jeffery, (Lib Dem, Southwater & Nuthurst), said: “It’s really important that we ensure that democracy is as accessible as possible to our residents.”
He pointed out that, in Southwater and Nuthurst, 97 per cent of the population would have to sign up to a petition relating to that area in order for it to be heard.
Describing that requirement as ‘incredible’, he added that it was ‘clearly a barrier to having people’s local voices heard’.
Gary Markwell (Ref, Bersted) said only 12 petitions had been presented at council since 2010. He added: “At a time when democracy can feel remote from residents, we should be making it easier for people to engage with the council. not erecting additional barriers.”
The recommendation to make the change came from the governance committee. Donna Johnson (Local Alliance, Selsey), who chairs the committee, said there had been cross-party requests to ‘have another look at it’.
The decision was approved by 54 votes to zero with nine abstentions.
To find out how to petition the council, log on to www.westsussex.gov.uk.
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