Friday, October 30, 2015
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
Citizens embrace new lives Thirty new citizens were welcomed into the district yesterday at this year’s fifth citizenship ceremony. FULL STORY
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PHOTO AMANDA KONYN 291015-AK-007
Council scraps petitions policy BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
INSIDE
If the public presents a petition to the Ashburton District Council it can tear that document up or file it in a bottom drawer. And the lack of a requirement to do anything with a community petition drove a wedge between two factions of councillors at yesterday’s district council meeting. Staff recommended the council scrap its petitions policy because its standing orders covered how petitions should be handled, but that was flying in the face of democracy, councillor Rod Beavan said. “A petition is a democratic tool. I’m fully aware petitions are covered in
standing orders, how we handle the receipt of these, but it doesn’t say what we do with that petition. We need a policy to say how it’s handled and where it goes. If we take our petitions policy out, we increase the risk of people handling petitions any way they see fit,” he said. Councillor Donna Favel said the council only needed to look in its own backyard to see that petitions could be accepted and then ignored. “I recall a petition that was presented and that we didn’t appear to do anything with on the art gallery. There was a public rally and a petition. When it got to the council table nothing appeared to happen,” she said. Mayor Angus McKay took umbrage at her comments and said the petition had
come months after votes were cast on the art gallery. He believed that standing orders were clear on what should happen. “Removing our policy technically does not stop democracy, it enhances democracy.” Councillor Russell Ellis did not agree. While standing orders might dictate a petition had to be accepted by council what happened then was wide open and that meant a petition could be binned, he said.
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