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  4. Public participation

Public participation

We encourage members of the public to participate in our affairs. All relevant issues raised by members of the public will be taken into account when the council is making its decisions.

How to participate in council and committee meetings

Find meetings, agendas, reports and minutes

PDF Icon Having your say - How to address council meetings - pdf - 105 Kb

PDF Icon Guidance for public speaking at planning committee - pdf - 191 Kb

Petitions

We welcome petitions from those who live, work, or study in West Oxfordshire and we recognise that petitions are one way in which people can let us know their concerns or the strength of public feeling.

All petitions sent or presented to us will be acknowledged within 10 working days of receipt. The acknowledgement will set out what we plan to do with the petition. We will treat something as a petition if it is identified as being a petition, or if it seems to us that it is intended to be a petition.

Submitting a petition

Petitions submitted to the council must include:

  • a clear and concise statement covering the subject of the petition, stating what action the petitioners wish the council to take
  • the name and address and signature of any person supporting the petition, which must be not fewer than 10 people

Petitions should be accompanied by contact details, including an address, for the petition organiser. This is the person we will contact to explain how we will respond to the petition. If the petition does not identify a petition organiser, we will contact signatories to the petition to agree who should act as the petition organiser.   

Our petitions scheme has more information about submitting petitions and what will happen after you have done so, as well as some matters which are excluded from the scheme, by law.

PDF Icon Petitions Scheme - pdf - 96 Kb

Details of petitions received and of the council's response will be published online. The contact details of the petition organiser will not be placed online.

Send paper petitions to: Head of Democratic Services, West Oxfordshire District Council, Council Offices, Woodgreen, Witney, OX28 1NB.

e-Petitions

Petitions can also be submitted online. To request the creation of an e-petition, the petition organiser will need to provide us with their name, postal address and email address. You will also need to decide how long you would like your petition to be open for signatures, up to a maximum of 12 months. E-petitions must follow the same guidelines as paper petitions.

To request the creation of an e-petition email enquiries@westoxon.gov.uk with the information described above, and please include "e-petition request" in the subject line. We will, as necessary, contact you should we need to clarify anything before your e-petition goes live.  

Current petitions

View our petitions page to read the details of any current petitions, or to support a current e-petition.

Related Documents

PDF Icon Filming and Recording of Meetings Protocol - pdf - 73 Kb