County receives petition from public
In an historic first, the chair of Warwickshire County Council received a petition from members of the public this week at a meeting of the full council in Shire Hall.
Cllr Peter Barnes received a petition from Hugo Dello of Rugby who was petitioning to raise awareness of, and seek solutions for, careless driving by parents talking their children to and from Bawnmore Infant and Bilton C of E Junior Schools. A second petition was received from Louise Bayford of Bidford, requesting a pedestrian crossing by the town’s bridge.
This marked the first occasion in which a member of the public was able to present a petition in person. Previously they have always had to be handed over to the county council chair by an elected member.
Cllr Barnes said: “I was pleased to receive the petitions from the public. We are always looking at involving the public in the workings of the county council and changing this protocol is a significant step in setting aside formalities and increasing our engagement with them.”
Cllr Alan Farnell, leader of the County Council, was also delighted to see the change in procedure.
He said: “The county council is committed to looking at ways of engaging communities to help us in our decision making. We welcome residents attending their local forums to keep our officers informed on issues in their localities.
"It helps us to create relevant local strategies that tackle local issues. That residents can now hand over their own petitions has streamlined the process by which they can let us know what is affecting them.”